A good interview with Idris Elba speaking primarily about the past and future of his hit BBC crime series Luther… and more.

Posted today, Daniel Montgomery of GoldDerby.com held a video chat with Elba in Atlanta, where he's currently shooting the thriller No Good Deed with Taraji P. Henson.

In the 15-minute interview, Elba reveals a few things that I think you'll appreciate knowing.

We already know very well that his long-term goal for the series is to take Luther to the theater, the big screen, where he believes the ultimate Luther story will unfold. He reiterates that in the below interview; no big surprise there.

So a Luther feature film is in his future, assuming all that's necessary to make that happen, comes together. 

Elba adds that the upcoming season 3 of the series, the end of it specifically (which will likely be the last of the series on TV), will essentially serve as a lead-in to the feature film; so I anticipate some kind of major season 3 cliffhanger finale, which will entice audiences to see what's on the other side of that cliffhanger when the film is eventually produced and released.

And as for what we can expect in season 3, Elba says, first, the the scripts for the new season are close to being completely done, and they're currently searching for directors; second, expect 2 or 3 new characters to be introduced, although he won't say more, other than one of the new characters, a baddie most likely, will be a real huge challenge for Luther (he kind of dismisses the previous Luther baddies as blips, suggesting that this new baddie, to be introduced in season 3, will be his most formidable to date; we can only wonder what this character's make-up will be – Luther's Professor Moriarty, likely just as mental, except he/she will use his/her *powers* for evil); third, don't expect the Alice storyline to return in any sort of significant way (he says she'll still be in the Luther universe, but suggests she won't be of much influence on anything or anyone; he reiterated that they're trying to set things up for the "bigger picture" and there's a possibility that Alice's story strands come back if/when the feature film is made; but don't expect to see much of her in season 3); fourth, while he couldn't give a date as to when season 3 will debut, he said that they aim to produce all the episodes this year, so that the series is back on TV as soon as possible (based on Idris' schedule for the rest of 2012, I won't expect season 3 of Luther until some time in 2013; he's shooting No Good Deed in Atlanta right now; and once that's done, he heads to South Africa for the summer to shoot his dream project – the Nelson Mandela biopic with Naomie Harris; and after that, according to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, Thor 2 starts shooting in London in August, which Idris will return for, as Heimdall; it's not known how significant his role in the sequel will be, and how long he'll be needed on set, but I'll say that, based on all this info, I'd be surprised if he shoots Luther season 3 this year; if it happens, it'll have to be in fall, around October through December, and into the winter; although I'd assume he'd like to take a break after 5 back-to-back shoots. All that to say, Luther season 3 will definitely be a longer wait).

An interesting item he adds is that, going into season 3, Luther will be closer to retirement than he’s ever been – a storyline that could bleed into the feature film's narrative; I can see it; Luther's last case – a case for the ages – before he hangs up the hat; or maybe it's the challenge of the case, and the baddie in season 3 that push him over the edge, and essentially force him into retirement.

We'll see… what we can be sure of, as he notes, are "more really bad characters, more dark TV."

Watch the full 15-minute interview below, which includes discussion on international awareness of him as an actor, affecting the opportunities available to him, and more: