Dan Stevens Confirms He Won't Be in the 'Downton Abbey' Movie

Despite Instagram posts that may have teased otherwise, Dan Stevens is definitely not in the Downton Abbey movie.

We know. We're sad, too. 

A few months back, ahead of production on long-awaited Downton feature film, actors Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, and Allen Leech, who plays Tom Branson, got together with former co-star to be a little naughty. Stevens currently had a mustache going for a role he was filming, and the two of them asked if he should keep it for his return to Downton Abbey.

This off-hand joke probably sounded ridiculous to most, as Steven's character, Matthew Crawley, was brutally killed in a car crash during the Christmas special that followed Season 3. It has since gotten out that creator Julian Fellowes did Matthew in so violently because he was super offended that Stevens had been serious about wanting to exit the show early. (Fellowes had initially laughed off the actor's comments as a ploy for more money.) Considering how everything went down, it seemed doubtful that Fellowes, who wrote the movie, was going to give Stevens a place in it, even if there was a way to include him.

        View this post on Instagram                  

Should Matthew have a mustache for the #DowntonAbbeyMovie...? Vote below...

A post shared by Dan Stevens (@thatdanstevens) on Aug 12, 2018 at 10:30am PDT

But fans will hope, to the point that Stevens actually had to clarify this week he was not going to be in the movie. And all the rumors spawned from Stevens' Instagram post, including the idea he could be somehow given a scene in a flashback, were false.

Stevens appeared at the winter edition of theTelevision Critics Association Press Tour as part of the panels put on by cable broadcaster FX. Stevens has starred in their offbeat superhero series Legion for the last two seasons, a critical darling of a show. It also happens to be one of 20th Century's Fox's few forays into taking its Marvel holdings to the small screen. Stevens plays David Haller, son of Charles Xavier, aka Professor X of X-Men fame. (The role of Professor X has been portrayed at various ages by such esteemed UK actors as Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy.) But like most well-done shows, Legion also knows when to call it quits. The panel was held as part of the announcement that Season 3 of the show will be its last.

Deadline spoke to Stevens, hoping to get him to clarify his role in the Downton Abbey movie. Stevens not only said he was not in the film, but protested he couldn't understand how the story even started. Some people just refuse to understand how social media and fandom works.

Meanwhile, the Downton Abbey movie, which is also entitled Downton Abbey, has finished filming and the first trailer is already out. (Stevens is not listed in the cast rundown in it either, just as an FYI.)  It is set not long after the final season left off in 1925, and will most likely be the last installment of the story of the Crawley family. Everyone who was still alive at the end of the final season is expected to appear, except for Lady Rose (played by Lily James).

Downton Abbey arrives in theaters Friday, September 20, 2019.