Charlie Hunnam and Marvel Alum Join Matthew Macfadyen’s High-Stakes Spy Thriller Series

Here we go: Matthew Macfadyen is stepping into George Smiley’s raincoat, Charlie Hunnam is heading back behind the Iron Curtain, and MCU vet Daniel Bruhl is in the mix too. The show is called 'Legacy of Spies' — but the plot is built on 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' with extra DNA from le Carre’s later novel 'A Legacy of Spies'. If that sounds like a hybrid, it is. Also, yes, they’re setting it across the U.K., even though the core story screams Berlin Wall. Interesting choice.

Who’s playing who

• Matthew Macfadyen as George Smiley, le Carre’s legendary spymaster
• Charlie Hunnam as Alec Leamas, a senior British intelligence officer
• Daniel Bruhl as Jens Fiedler, an East German spy
• Devrim Lingnau Islamoglu as Doris Quinz, aka Agent Tulip

The setup

The eight-episode series is locked in at the BBC in the U.K. and MGM+ in the U.S. Cameras aren’t rolling for a while — production is slated to start in early 2026 — and the story will unfold across the U.K., even as it draws heavily from Cold War-era Berlin. The scripts come from Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram.

As for the story, they’re pulling the spine from le Carre’s 1963 classic and weaving in elements from his 2017 book 'A Legacy of Spies'. If you know 'Cold', you know the opening punch: Leamas watches his final agent die at the Wall, and his bosses dangle one last operation that looks a lot like revenge. He’s sent under deep cover, pretending to be a burned-out has-been, to bait Hans-Dieter Mundt — the deputy head of East German intelligence — into a trap. Smiley, of course, keeps the chessboard steady in the background.

'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold begins in the shadow of the newly-erected Berlin Wall, as Alec Leamas watches his last agent shot dead by East German sentries.'

Who’s making it

The Ink Factory is producing with Amusement Park Film, in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios. That’s a very le Carre-friendly lineup.

Smiley’s very crowded mantle

Macfadyen joins a long list of Smileys before him: Rupert Davies, James Mason, George Cole, Alec Guinness, Peter Vaughan, Bernard Hepton, Denholm Elliott, and Simon Russell Beale. Gary Oldman even grabbed an Oscar nomination for playing Smiley in 2011’s 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. No pressure, Matthew.

Bottom line: a heavyweight cast, a mashup of two le Carre eras, and a very slow fuse — early 2026 is a wait. But if they nail the tone, this could be the next great bleak, brainy spy binge.