The Only Yellowstone Spinoff That Truly Continues the Original Story md06

Yellowstone returns in 2026 with three spinoffs, but only one feels like the true continuation of Taylor Sheridan’s globally popular neo-Western saga. In 2024, Sheridan’s flagship Yellowstone series ended after star Kevin Costner’s contentious exit. 1923, the second Yellowstone prequel after 1883, also ended in 2025.

Yellowstone’s series ending saw Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) give up their family’s legacy. Kayce sold the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch to the Broken Rock Reservation. Brother and sister then parted ways, leaving the land that four generations of Duttons had bled for and committed heinous crimes to defend.

Yellowstone‘s continuation includes three spinoffs coming in 2026, with the potential for a third prequel, tentatively titled 1944, down the line. Yellowstone has also left the Paramount Network, with Kayce Dutton’s spinoff going to network television on CBS, while Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler’s (Cole Hauser) offshoot will stream on Paramount+.

The third Yellowstone spinoff, and the first not about the Duttons, titled The Madison, is also coming to Paramount+. Although The Madison stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, and Kurt Russell, it’s an expansion, not a continuation, of the Yellowstone saga fans already love.

Beth & Rip’s The Dutton Ranch Feels Like Yellowstone’s True Continuation

Currently titled The Dutton Ranch, the spinoff about Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler feels like Yellowstone‘s true and natural continuation. Far from the Duttons’ former land, the married Beth and Rip buy their own ranch and make a go of it with their adopted son, Carter (Finn Little).

The Dutton Ranch has Yellowstone‘s familiar trappings of a sprawling facility with cowboys and horses in picturesque surroundings, along with a new, potential enemy for Beth, played by Annette Bening. Carter could also have a love interest, Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), and that might drive Beth and Rip crazy.

Yellowstone alternated from the idyllic cowboy lifestyle to shocking violence, and The Dutton Ranch is poised to deliver both. Rip and Beth love each other, but they are infamously hostile to nearly everyone else. Beth and Rip both have short fuses and don’t hesitate to resort to brutality on a whim.

Beth was always the true brains of the modern-day Duttons, and Rip was, essentially, the fourth son of the late John Dutton III (Kevin Costner). The Dutton Ranch feels the most like what was popular about Yellowstone, minus the iconic title.

Pros & Cons Of Yellowstone’s Y: Marshals & The Madison Spinoffs

Yellowstone‘s other two spinoffs in 2026 take the franchise in somewhat different directions. Kayce Dutton’s spinoff, Y: Marshals, eschews the cowboy lifestyle for the resumption of Kayce’s law enforcement career.

Y: Marshals will be a procedural on CBS, which is a departure from what Yellowstone was on Paramount Network. Although Kayce’s son, Tate (Brecken Merrill), will be in Y: Marshals, Kayce’s wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), isn’t listed among the cast.

The inclusion of Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and Mo (Mo Brings Plenty) will make Y: Marshals feel more like Yellowstone, but the fight to maintain a cowboy’s lifestyle from the encroaching modern world is something Y: Marshals is moving away from.

The Madison, meanwhile, is a Yellowstone-adjacent spinoff, at best. The Madison is about a New York City family moving to the Madison River valley of central Montana.

In a way, The Madison is what John Dutton fought so hard against in Yellowstone, especially when he was governor of Montana: The big city coming to his land. The Madison may have secret ties to the Dutton legacy, but it will be markedly different, by design, from Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Faces A Problem With 3 Spinoffs

Yellowstone‘s initial expansion of the franchise with the prequels 1883 and 1923 was successful. Existing alongside the flagship Yellowstone, 1883 revealed the origins of the Duttons and the Yellowstone ranch while also delivering a phenomenal historical western miniseries.

Led by Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and Timothy Dalton, 1923 was stacked with star power, and centered on the tragic love story of Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) and Alexandra of Sussex (Julia Schlaepfer). The prequels felt like historical Yellowstone that nicely led into the modern-day flagship.

However, Yellowstone‘s three upcoming prequels could potentially dilute the brand. Beth, Kayce, and Rip were irresistible together in Yellowstone, especially when they were doing the bidding of their father, and the late Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), was an odious foil for Beth and the family.

The Dutton Ranch and Y: Marshals are splitting the core of the remaining Yellowstone franchise and specific aspects to their individual spinoffs. Kayce will center on the gun-toting law enforcement aspect of Yellowstone, and continue Dutton’s story with his Native American allies.

The Madison will barely be recognizable as Yellowstone, and it is the biggest gamble of the three spinoffs. The Madison‘s best bet is to tap into the family drama and unique sense of place and time that made Landman, which isn’t part of the Yellowstone saga, one of Paramount+’s biggest hits.

Beth and Rip’s The Dutton Ranch, meanwhile, carries more of what audiences most associate with and enjoy about Yellowstone. The volatile Beth and Rip have always been captivating together, and they’re literally carrying the Dutton name forward.