5 Yellowstone Characters Who Deserve Their Own Spin-Offs

"Yellowstone" might have lasted five seasons, but it lives on via multiple spin-offs that expand the on-screen universe created by Taylor Sheridan. While Luke Grimes' Kayce Dutton-focused "Marshals" seems to have no idea what it's about, it has at least given fans a way to keep up with one of the most popular "Yellowstone" characters. Meanwhile, Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly's "Dutton Ranch" has fixed all the problems with "Marshals." The show delivers a distinctly Sheridan-esque neo-Western that, while it doesn't always give Hauser's Rip Wheeler and Reilly's Beth Dutton the attention they deserve, is a worthy follow-up to the original series.

Of course, these two spin-offs come in the wake of two "Yellowstone" prequel series, "1884" and "1923" — both of which provided an insight into the Dutton dynasty's history. But since we're talking about one of the most successful TV franchises of the past decade, there's always going to be an appetite for more.

Fans would almost certainly welcome more "Yellowstone" spin-offs if Sheridan and Paramount decided to provide. Thus far, there's been no word on whether such offshoots will happen, but it seems reasonable to assume they could. The planned "6666" spin-off was scrapped and Sheridan's other series, "The Madison," was originally touted as being connected to "Yellowstone" before that idea was similarly dropped. But that just means there's more space for some beloved characters from the original series to return in their own spin-offs. With that in mind, here are the "Yellowstone" characters most deserving of their own show.

Gil Birmingham is a Taylor Sheridan-verse veteran, having appeared in the "Yellowstone" impresario's 2016 neo-Western "Hell or High Water" and his snowy, shocking 2017 directorial feature "Wind River." But he's best known for playing Broken Rock Chief Thomas Rainwater in "Yellowstone" and now "Marshals."

Along the way, fans have grown increasingly enthusiastic about the prospect of a Chief Rainwater spin-off. Aside from the fact Birmingham is a great actor and one of the few "Marshals" contributors who managed to escape that first season unscathed, the actor has pitched his idea for a show before. As he told Collider in 2024:

"My thought was that [Rainwater] would probably first create a community where his people could be safe with their homes, facilities of hospitals and schools. [...] Then, outside of that, maybe offering educational centers for people to visit and learn what our disconnected sense of our society has created."

Sounds decent enough. But the big point here is that Rainwater is now in charge of the Yellowstone ranch. At the end of "Yellowstone" Season 5, the surviving Duttons sold the ranch to the Broken Rock Reservation. As such, it makes all sorts of sense to give the ranch itself a continuation series, allowing fans to see how the land once owned by the Duttons develops under the stewardship of Rainwater and his people. "Marshals" Episode 3 has already solidified that the pitched Rainwater spin-off needs to happen, now Birmingham's Chief just needs to be set free from that CBS procedural to lead his own show.

We all know how the big man's story ends. John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) "Yellowstone" Season 5 death was controversial to say the least, not only because fans had spent five seasons growing to love this indomitable figurehead of modern day ranching, but because Costner had publicly fallen out with Taylor Sheridan behind the scenes. Unfortunately, regardless of how you feel, John Dutton ain't coming back. Or is he?

Throughout "Yellowstone" we were given glimpses of how John came to be the formidable figure we knew him as via flashbacks in which Josh Lucas played a younger version of the Dutton patriarch. These flashbacks revealed how John's relationship with Rip Wheeler (played as a young man by Kyle Red Silverstein) developed and how John had been protecting his land for decades prior to the modern-day events of "Yellowstone."

Ultimately, however, Lucas' John was only seen in nine episodes across all five seasons of "Yellowstone," which means there's plenty more story to tell. A prequel series starring Lucas would be the ideal way to do that. Exploring the loss of John's wife, Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol), more deeply, and how his relationship with his children developed over the years would surely provide a wealth of "Yellowstone"-brand drama that fans would eat up. What's more, most of Lucas' flashback segments were featured in the fifth and final season of the show proper, which means audiences are primed for a spin-off/prequel series. On top of all that, Lucas has made no secret of his enthusiasm for being part of the "Yellowstone" universe. This one seems like a no-brainer.

What could be more Taylor Sheridan than a veteran who just wants to live a quiet life being pulled back into the drama? Forrie J. Smith played John Dutton's longest-standing ranch hand, Lloyd Pierce, who at the end of "Yellowstone" was allowed to quietly retire from the chaos to enjoy some well-earned peace. But when you think about it, it's not entirely clear how well-earned that peace actually is. Lloyd's placid exterior and wise manner often distracted from the fact that this man helped perpetrate some of the worst things the Dutton ever did on "Yellowstone". Surely there's some karma coming his way?

At the end of the mothership series, Lloyd told Rip Wheeler, "If I can't cowboy here, I'd just rather not do it at all." Rip did offer to host him at whatever ranch he ultimately ended up at, but Lloyd seemed pretty set on calling it quits. The thing is, as we were so often reminded throughout "Yellowstone," you can never truly escape the ranch, and in Lloyd's case there's multiple decades-worth of shady dealings and outright crimes just waiting to come back and bite this stoic cowboy in his rear end.

Apart from anything else, Lloyd was a fan-favorite "Yellowstone" character and seeing him in his own show — even if it's just a miniseries — would be a real treat. With his 2026 series "The Madison" Sheridan embraced a more reflective tone, having Michelle Pfeiffer's reckon with a misspent life in the city. Why not give us a similarly contemplative show focused on Lloyd but with action sequences sprinkled throughout. It's the Sheridan formula at its best — naturalistic drama and all-out action. This one has to happen.

It seems like decades since Jefferson White's Jimmy Hurdstrom was a humble meth cook cast into the crucible that was the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and its perverse "brotherhood" of branded ranch hands. By the end of the series, Jimmy had undergone one of the most profound transformations on the show, eventually leaving the ranch a new man to work full-time at the 6666 Ranch in Texas.

That's the same real-life ranch owned by "Yellowstone" creator Taylor Sheridan, and for a time it looked as though we were going to witness the ongoing exploits of Jimmy via a "6666" "Yellowstone" spin-off. Unfortunately, that series has now been canned altogether, with Sheridan telling the Rodeo Time podcast (via Deadline), "There's never going to be [a '6666' spin-off]. I would never fictionalize that ranch. People thought that that was going to be a thing, but I would never do that."

It's fair to say, then, that fans should get a Jimmy spin-off if only to make up for the fact they were initially promised something very similar. Beyond that, it would be great to see this "Yellowstone" veteran again. We'd love to see Jimmy as one of the "Yellowstone" characters to guest star on "Dutton Ranch," and that might be a better forum for the character's return. But there's no denying the appeal of a Jimmy spin-off. This guy saw it all during his Dutton ranch tenure and it would be interesting to see how that experience affected him and how he might put it to good use forging his own path — thereby continuing his already dramatic transformation that began on "Yellowstone."

Jennifer Landon's Teeter was a real wildcard and a refreshingly comic presence on "Yellowstone." But she also brought some of the most affecting human drama to show, especially in the final season. In "Yellowstone" Season 5, Episode 12 Teeter experienced the tragic death of her boyfriend Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards), after which she was never quite the same.

There were reports that the now shuttered "6666" spin-off would featured Teeter as another returning "Yellowstone" character. Of course, with the spin-off being scrapped, there's no chance of that happening now. But it shows the producers were at least considering bringing her back. And why not? The character's ebullience and ability to keep up with the bunkhouse ball-breaking was a consistently endearing part of the show. But Teeter also has a lot to reckon with in the wake of "Yellowstone" ending, meaning like Lloyd Pierce, she exemplifies the incongruous Taylor Sheridan formula: soapy fun and grounded drama.

How will the Texarkana-native move on following her experience at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch? We know she was headed for the 6666 Ranch at the end of "Yellowstone," but fans will surely want to know how that worked out and whether she stayed there. She's also a branded member of the Yellowstone clan. How does such a permanent reminder of her heartache in the face of Colby's death sit with her in her post-Dutton Ranch life? There's plenty to explore with this fan-favorite character.