It's hard to imagine the second half of Yellowstone's fifth season being more controversial than it is. Taylor Sheridan's hugely popular western series ran into trouble after Season 5A aired in 2022. The following year's Hollywood strikes, coupled with star Kevin Costner's frustration with the filming schedule, resulted in Season 5B of Yellowstone becoming a major question mark. For his part, Costner claimed he was unable to devote his time to the “Horizon” saga, a series of Western films that were a passion project for the veteran star. Costner, who plays ranch owner John Dutton in “Yellowstone,” claimed he did not receive scripts for Season 5B of the series and therefore decided to leave the series rather than wait to see when and if he would be allowed to star in the film “Horizon: To shoot “American Saga – Chapter 1”, which unfortunately was a complete success at the box office.

But Costner's opinion was only one side of the story. On the other hand, Paramount and Sheridan claimed that their star's commitment to the “Horizon” films actually complicated planning for the second half of “Yellowstone” season 5 and directly contributed to the delays. This protracted standoff between the two teams made it clear that there was no love lost between them, and it seemed that Costner's exit amid this tumult was final – especially after Paramount confirmed that Season 5B of “Yellowstone” would be the final episodes of “Yellowstone.” “ would be the series.

Since then, longtime stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser have reportedly been in talks to direct a sixth season of Yellowstone. While nothing has been confirmed yet, it appears that the show could have a future beyond 5B and perhaps beyond Costner as well. Meanwhile, fans of the series are waiting to see Sheridan complete the fifth season of his neo-Western without the show's star on board. The episodes have been filmed and are scheduled to air on November 10, 2024. Many assume that John Dutton will die before the end of the season. But it seems Sheridan had the opportunity to keep the ranch owner alive, as Costner apparently isn't entirely opposed to returning to the series he established as a mega-hit.

However the fifth season of Yellowstone ends, it will be a finale of sorts for the series. Even if it continues with a sixth season, this will be a very different show. However, Kevin Costner's exit reportedly won't change the ending of “Yellowstone,” as Taylor Sheridan was said to have known before the pilot aired that the series would run for five seasons and even knew how it would end. Most fans expect the Dutton patriarch to lose out in some way, and with Costner having left the show behind him, that seems like a safe bet – although Sheridan will have to make sure he gives the character a proper sendoff if he does Considering that Costner had a unique character, the “moral death” clause was included in his “Yellowstone” contract.

Since the second part of the fifth season will air soon, it is already clear what will happen. But if John Dutton is killed off in the final episodes, that would mean Sheridan and Paramount missed an opportunity to bring Costner back into the fold in the future. Despite the heated back-and-forth between the show's star, the network and Sheridan, Costner actually seems open to returning, telling Entertainment Tonight that he “would love to do it, but we haven't been able to.” .” The actor added, “I thought I would do seven (seasons), but right now we're at five. So how it works – I hope it works – but there are a lot of different shows on. Maybe.” Maybe that will come back to me and I feel very comfortable with it.

In order for Costner to return as John Dutton, the network and Sheridan will apparently have to come to him, complete with a story he's “comfortable” with. Given the ongoing tensions behind the scenes, that seems an unlikely scenario. Meanwhile, when asked about his character's fate, Costner said: “He has to be proactive in what happens” and revealed that he has his “own fantasy of what it could be”, adding: “But this is Taylor's business. I've said that before.” I thought about how it could happen a while ago, but we'll just have to see.