It might be a little while before we hear anything about when the second half of Yellowstone season 5 will arrive — with or without Kevin Costner — but at least Paramount+ is giving us yet another spin-off series by year’s end. This one is dubbed Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
As the history buffs out there will have gathered from the title alone, this offshoot to the first spin-off in Y: 1883 is based on Bass Reeves himself (portrayed by David Oyelowo) — the real-life slave turned frontier hero and legendary lawman, historically noted as the very first black deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi River; as well as being the alleged inspiration for the Lone Ranger.
Throughout his storied career as a Wild West gunslinger on the side of good, Reeves recorded over 3,000 arrests of dangerous criminals, having shot and killed 14 of said criminals in self-defence. Which certainly sounds right up franchise creator Taylor Sheridan’s alley, if you ask me. Hence why he’s even cleared his packed schedule to personally direct the two initial episodes.
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”The mortality rate of being a deputy marshal back then was so high that the fact that he had 3,000 arrests — and a career that spanned into his 60s — these were things that were just unthinkable,” David Oyelowo previously noted.
At this stage, it’s unclear precisely how Lawmen: Bass Reeves will be tied to the existing Yellowstone universe. Given it’s an off-shoot of Y: 1883, perhaps audiences can expect an appearance from Tim McGraw as James Dutton, Faith Hill as Margaret Dutton, or even Sam Elliot as Shea Brennan (with some adjustments made to the timelines because, well… you know).
According to Deadline, future iterations/seasons will revolve around other iconic lawmen and outlaws who’ve “impacted history.”
Lauren E. Banks joins David Oyelowo as onscreen wife Jennie Reeves, Demi Singleton as onscreen daughter Sally Reeves, Forrest Goodluck as Billy Crow, Barry Pepper as 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles leader Esau Pierce, Donald Sutherland as “Hanging Judge” Isaac Parker, and Dennis Quaid as Deputy US Marshal Sherrill Lynn.
Other notable names include Shea Whigham, Garrett Hedlund, Joaquina Kalukango, Lonnie Chavis, Grantham Coleman, Tosin Morohunfola, Dale Dickey, Rob Morgan, Ryan O’Nan, Margot Bingham Mo Brings Plenty, Justin Hurtt-Dunkley, and Bill Dawes.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves release date TBA (but scheduled for sometime in late 2023) — check out the teaser trailer above.
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When we said there was a shitload more Yellowstone content on the horizon, we weren’t joking.
In addition to the troubled Yellowstone season 5, part two of which will effectively mark the end of the main series, the aforementioned Y: 1883, as well as Y: 1923 starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, the main mythology is apparently set to be continued by a Matthew McConaughey-helmed property.
Then there’s the Jimmy-centric off-shoot 6666 and a long-rumoured prequel focusing on the outgoing Kevin Costner’s John Dutton himself thought to be titled Y: 1981.
Outside of the immediate Yellowstone-verse and into the wider Sheridan-verse, Hollywood’s busiest creative has also recently dropped Mafia reinvention series Tulsa King starring Sylvester Stallone; and (sorta) revisited his past as the Sicario screenwriter with the CIA thriller Special Ops: Lioness starring Zoe Saldana, Nicole Kidman, and Morgan Freeman.
That big-ass ranch mortgage ain’t gonna pay itself.
