Galloping its way toward its March 1, 2026, premiere, Yellowstone fans need to take caution and temper expectations with Taylor

Sheridan’s upcoming TV spin-off, Y: Marshals. With two substantial changes that will undoubtedly alter the Yellowstone franchise’s

authorial tone and niche appeal, the story of Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) joining the U.S. Marshals in Montana after serving as a Navy SEAL may not resemble a Sheridan show at all by the time it premieres.

 

 

Before detailing the two crucial changes that should worry fans, it’s worth reminding folks that Sheridan’s contract with Paramount will expire in 2028 and that he has signed a lucrative new deal to bring his talents to Universal. The studio switch almost certainly played a

 

 

factor in the overhauled approach to Y: Marshals, which includes a new writing staff and transition to broad network television. Translation: Y: Marshals will look, feel, and sound much different than Yellowstone.

 

 

Created by Taylor Sheridan as one of many Yellowstone spin-offs, Y: Marshals is also a sequel to the hit neo-western melodrama that ran from 2018 to 2024 on Paramount+. Picking up after the events of Yellowstone’s finale, Y: Marshals follows Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) as he adjusts to life in Montana with his son, Tate Dutton (Brecken Merill), following the tragic demise of patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and Kayce’s brother, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley).

 

 

 

With his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) and her husband Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) leaving the Dutton ranch to start life anew, Kayce joins the U.S. Marshals and takes on a career path. Glaringly absent from the cast is Kelsey Asbille, who played Kayce’s Native American wife and the mother of Tate Dutton. While it’s possible Asbille could join the show later on, the assumption is that her character may be killed off-screen between the events of Yellowstone and Y: Marshals.

Rather than being a melodramatic western TV series, Y: Marshals will adhere more to the style of a law enforcement procedural, one of many significant changes that potentially threaten to bastardize Yellowstone’s compelling formula. Changes also include new cast members, who will join recurring Yellowstone actors Gil Birmingham as Thomas Rainwater and Mo Brings Plenty as Mo.

Apart from the new cast members and procedural formula, the most significant changes facing Y: Marshals relative to Yellowstone include switching writers and TV channels. As Sheridan’s contract with Paramount expires in 2028, and with the countless projects he has left to complete for the network before then, the prolific writer is pulled in too many directions to handle writing duties on Y: Marshal. Between the hit series Landman, Tulsa King, Lioness, Mayor of Kingstown, The Madison, The Dutton Ranch, 6666, and 1944, Sheridan is just too busy to write Y: Marshal episodes.

Although Sheridan will remain on board with Y: Marshals as an executive producer, he will not write episodes for the spin-off. Instead, showrunner and fellow executive producer Spencer Hudnut will write the majority of episodes for Y: Mashals, including the premiere episode. For Yellowstone fans who fondly grew accustomed to Sheridan’s stylish, tough-talking cowboys and his unique Western-driven vernacular, this could spell trouble in (Montana) paradise.