Tom Sweet is stepping into one of adventure fiction’s most recognizable roles: Jim Hawkins, the young map-holder at the center of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. In the 2026 MGM+ and Paramount+ adaptation, Sweet is not simply the boy who discovers a treasure map. He is the point-of-view character through whom the series explores risk, loyalty, family, and the price of growing up in a world full of people with competing plans.
Quick answer: Who plays Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island (2026)?
Tom Sweet plays Jim Hawkins in the six-part Treasure Island adaptation. Hayley Atwell plays Jim’s mother, Bess Hawkins, while David Oyelowo plays Long John Silver. The series premiered on MGM+ in the United States on October 11, 2026, and on Paramount+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 12, 2026. The production reimagines Stevenson’s 1883 novel as a character-driven adventure about a mother and son drawn into a dangerous race for Captain Flint’s treasure.
Sweet is not an unknown performer arriving without experience. Viewers may recognize him as young Pip in the 2023 television adaptation of Great Expectations. That earlier role and Jim Hawkins are different characters, but both stories ask a young protagonist to navigate adult power, social pressure, and uncertain motives.
Why Jim Hawkins is a demanding role
Jim has to be curious enough to follow the mystery, perceptive enough to recognize danger, and young enough that the voyage can change him. The character cannot be played as fearless from the beginning: the tension comes from watching a teenager make decisions before he fully understands their consequences.
The 2026 series gives Jim an unusual advantage—a remarkable memory that helps him retain details connected to the treasure map. That device changes the practical stakes of the story. If the map is lost or destroyed, the information may still survive in Jim’s mind. His intelligence becomes useful, but it also makes him more valuable to people who want the treasure for themselves.
That premise gives Sweet two jobs at once. He must convey Jim’s alertness and resourcefulness while also making clear that a clever teenager is not automatically equipped to handle seasoned criminals, political schemers, or a ship full of divided loyalties.
From Great Expectations to Treasure Island
Sweet’s earlier work as young Pip offers a useful point of comparison—not a guarantee of how audiences will respond to Jim, but a way to understand the kind of material he has handled before. Great Expectations follows a young person whose ambitions are shaped by wealth, status, manipulation, and adults who rarely explain their true intentions. Treasure Island uses a different genre, but Jim also enters a world where people’s promises can conceal private agendas.
The similarity is not that Pip and Jim are interchangeable. Pip’s story is shaped by class and the desire to become a gentleman; Jim’s journey is driven by discovery, survival, and the dangerous promise of treasure. The connection is that both roles require a young performer to carry scenes in which the audience understands more of the threat than the character does.
The mother-and-son relationship raises the stakes
One of the adaptation’s most significant choices is the expanded role for Bess Hawkins, played by Hayley Atwell. Jim is not travelling through the story without a family anchor. Bess has her own judgments, fears, and reasons to take risks, and her presence changes how the audience reads Jim’s decisions. A choice that might look like youthful recklessness in a solo adventure can become a negotiation between a son who wants answers and a mother who is trying to keep them both alive.
This relationship also gives the series a way to make the adventure emotionally specific. The treasure is not only a prize at the end of a map. It represents the possibility of a different future, while the pursuit of it threatens to pull the Hawkins family into violence and betrayal.
What makes this version of Jim different?
The series places Jim inside a more overtly dangerous contest from the start. Long John Silver, played by David Oyelowo, is not merely a colourful pirate figure; he is a complex and ambitious presence whose charm can coexist with threat. Aaron Graham, played by Jack Huston, brings another set of interests into the hunt. For Jim, learning whom to trust may matter as much as remembering the route to the treasure.
The remarkable-memory element is an especially clear departure from a straightforward retelling. It gives Jim a skill that can move the plot forward, but it also creates a question about vulnerability: if other characters discover just how much he remembers, will they treat him as a child to protect or as a resource to control?
That is where Sweet’s performance has the potential to define the adaptation. Jim must remain believable as a teenager even when the plot gives him an unusual ability. The character’s emotional reactions—fear, excitement, suspicion, and loyalty—need to feel grounded so the adventure does not become only a sequence of clever escapes.
Watch the official Treasure Island trailer
The trailer offers a look at the series’ tone, the Hawkins family, and the rival forces drawn toward Captain Flint’s treasure. It is a useful starting point for viewers who want to see Sweet as Jim before deciding whether this version of the classic is for them.
Will Tom Sweet define a new generation of pirate stories?
It is too early to make a definitive claim about a generation-defining performance. What can be said is that the role gives Sweet a strong central challenge: he must carry a familiar adventure while helping make its emotional choices feel immediate to modern viewers. The expanded family dynamic and Jim’s unusual memory give this adaptation a distinct route into the material.
The test is not whether Sweet makes Jim look invincible. It is whether viewers can believe in a young person who is brave in moments, frightened in others, and forced to learn quickly because the adults around him are not all acting in good faith. If that balance works, Jim’s journey can feel like more than a trip in search of gold—it can become a coming-of-age story about judgment, trust, and the cost of growing up.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Jim Hawkins in the 2026 Treasure Island series?
Tom Sweet plays Jim Hawkins. Hayley Atwell plays his mother, Bess Hawkins, and David Oyelowo plays Long John Silver.
What other shows has Tom Sweet appeared in?
Sweet played young Pip in the 2023 television adaptation of Great Expectations. His screen credits also include The Childhood of a Leader and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
When did Treasure Island (2026) premiere?
The series premiered on MGM+ in the United States on October 11, 2026. It launched on Paramount+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 12, 2026.
Is Treasure Island based on a book?
Yes. The series reimagines Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island, first published in 1883.
Sources and image credits: Paramount+ UK & Ireland official series guide; Entertainment Weekly’s first-look report; IMDb: Great Expectations; What to Watch; Télérama.
By Shivam Das
