The Yellowstone Universe appears to be growing by one handsome Southern charmer, and the rumor mill has Dutton fans saying alright, alright, alright. That’s right, Matthew McConaughey is slated to be the next high-brow actor to join Taylor Sheridan’s saga, and it’s almost like the idea was written in the stars. This is especially true after Kevin Costner’s departure from Yellowstone approaches, and the entire series appears to be ending with season five.
Deadline reported early this year that McConaughey was in talks to join the Yellowverse in some capacity, but there was not a lot of direction as to precisely what that meant. With two prequels already under Sheridan’s belt — and the idea of two more to come, plus several spinoffs taking place in the Dutton realm — there are seemingly ample opportunities for McConaughey to join in.
With the news breaking this week of Costner’s exit from Yellowstone and the breaking announcement today that the series, as a whole, seems to be approaching a premature end with the conclusion of season five, the time seems rifer than ever before for McConaughey to join in.
At first, fans thought that McConaughey would be a shoo-in on the forthcoming 6666 Ranch spinoff. He’s incredibly charming, has the perfect Southern drawl, looks great in a cowboy hat, and embodies the meaning of a hard day’s work. It’s almost as if he were born with Dutton DNA. While that idea would still be a hit, if the upcoming Yellowstone spinoff is anything but the 6666 Ranch spinoff, we’re almost sure we’d rather see McConaughey there.
Sheridan is keeping mum about the future of everything Yellowstone right now, but with the bit of information we now have to work off of, it seems that the next chapter for the Dutton saga has to be the best; it’s got to not just hit the ball out of the park, but be able to mend broken hearts everywhere if it proceeds a season 5 end, or happens in the lead up to it.
Plus, if meeting new people and doing cool things is on the horizon, that idea will sit very well with McConaughey, who recently shared a video about sending his son off to camp. When he asked him what he hoped to experience during his time away, those words were the exact ones he shared with his dear father. In a Dutton-esque hat, McConaughey said that’s about the best reason to do anything at all.
One thing Yellowstone fans have come to recognize as an ultimate truth is that Sheridan writes characters for specific actors. Both Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren spoke about this during press interviews for 1923. When the idea for the series was first pitched to them — there was no script to read. Sheridan instead approached them with a vision, an overhand pour, and a promise of a larger-than-life story.
Sheridan delivered, which further cemented the fact that, while the rumor mill in the Yellowverse is always spinning with exciting material, Sheridan keeps his cards close to his chest. So no matter how compelling the McConaughey rumors are, there’s no guarantee we’ll see him on a ranch or with the Dutton logo across his chest anytime soon, but if you think we won’t be wishing upon a star for it to come to fruition — you’re wrong.
If you need to get caught up on everything Yellowstone so far, now’s the best time. You can stream 1883 in its entirety on Paramount Plus and watch the first five episodes of 1923‘s first season now. Don’t forget, our Duttons of today’s timeline will be back with new episodes this summer, and the stakes have never been higher.
