Taylor Sheridan Is Officially Fixing ‘Yellowstone’s Biggest Sequel

Published Sep 11, 2026, 9:14 PM EDT

Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain, was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

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Dutton Ranch has proven that it can carry on the Taylor Sheridan tradition across the small screen, even with a cross-country move from Montana to the great state of Texas. As Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) are forced to reinvent themselves in a post-Yellowstone era, the Paramount+ drama rides into a highly anticipated second season that just got even more exciting thanks to a recent update.

Taylor Sheridan Will Reportedly Be More Involved With 'Dutton Ranch' Season 2

Everyone who already loved Dutton Ranch will likely be head-over-heels about the news that Sheridan will take a more active role in the series following creator Chad Feehan's exit. The Yellowstone universe is already embracing an unexpected crossover with SEAL Team, now that Benjamin Cavell is taking over showrunner duties, but that doesn't mean Sheridan is on the outside looking in. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Yellowstone creator will be taking more of an interest in where Rip and Beth go next. "We talk to him now about what the next season could be, and he wants to be involved," Reilly told the outlet following the first season. "So that feels like we earned this second season from all the work we’ve done before, and that's the thing I'm most proud of."

While we don't know the extent to which Sheridan will be involved in the writers' room, the fact that he wants to be more involved with the Yellowstone sequel is good news for those who thought Dutton Ranch lacked his particular touch. After all, it was a bit less soapy than the flagship series and largely distanced itself from everything that made Yellowstone's signature elements so recognizable. This isn't to say that Dutton Ranch was a poor sequel — far from it. If anything, the change of scenery and additional characters have been a breath of fresh air for a franchise that could easily have gone stale. However, Reilly and Hauser will likely be most pleased by this development, as Dutton Ranch marks the first time their dialogue was penned by someone other than Sheridan himself.

'Dutton Ranch' Is 'Yellowstone's Most Worthy Successor

Right now, Sheridan's increased role is so vague that we can't theorize what it will entail. Perhaps he intends to guide the production more intentionally from behind the scenes, or maybe he plans to write or direct for Dutton Ranch in the future. Even if Sheridan wasn't so intimately involved, the Yellowstone sequel has proven itself as the best thing that the brand has produced following Kevin Costner's untimely exit — and it's no contest.

Marshals has proven that there's still life in Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), but Dutton Ranch has largely succeeded where the CBS spin-off has struggled. Even without Sheridan's more direct guiding hand, the Paramount+ drama impresses with its grounded and complex characters, authentic worldbuilding, and high-quality production value that rides laps around the competition. Sheridan created something notable when he dreamed up the game-changing Yellowstone, but that initial vision has grown beyond his involvement.