There is no 'Yellowstone' without Kevin Costner, but Taylor Sheridan has successfully created his own television universe. Here's how the franchise could continue without John Dutton.

• The seeds for Kevin Costner's "Yellowstone" departure may have been sown some time ago.
• An explosive Deadline report states that Matthew McConaughey is in talks to continue the franchise.

What does the "Yellowstone" franchise look like without Kevin Costner's John Dutton?

Viewers may soon find out as according to an explosive Deadline report in February, trouble has been brewing on the set of the flagship Paramount Network drama over the last year as the 68-year-old actor has made clear his intention to cut back the number of days he spends on set.

While Costner himself hasn't addressed the issue, his lawyer has. Speaking to Puck in February, the actor's litigator, Marty Singer, said the reports about his client are "an absolute lie" but didn't speak to what Costner's future on the show looks like.

Per Deadline, the show's co-creator and showrunner, Taylor Sheridan, Paramount Global, and Paramount Network declined Costner's most recent attempt to compromise and plotted out a future for the "Yellowstone" universe that doesn't involve him.

However, for fans who can't imagine "Yellowstone" continuing without the Dutton patriarch, it turns out they might not have to.

It seems plausible that audiences will see their favorite television antihero's story conclude (potentially in the show's current, fifth season) before Sheridan, who has already created two successful spinoff series and has more planned, introduces his next chapter in the Dutton saga.

John Dutton and 'Yellowstone' itself are failing to keep viewers entertained

Viewers who tuned into "Yellowstone" before its midseason break all seem to be in agreement that the latest season has been somewhat disappointing. While seasons one to four of the drama all held a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 81% or above, in comparison, season five (so far) has a measly 34% score.

Interestingly, though, season five began with one of the show's biggest storylines in a long time as the Dutton pater familias became governor of Montana. But eight episodes into this season's extended 14-part run, it has become clear that this was perhaps not the best decision, with fans taking to a Reddit thread to criticize the show's decline in quality and writing.

Daily Beast critic Nick Schager noted in his season five review that opposition to progress isn't just John's approach to governing but has come to "embody the spirit" of the show too. Season five has taken mere baby steps in developing John's story arc — and its other story arcs, for that matter.

It hasn't helped that, on top of this, Costner hasn't had a whole lot of screen time.

In the third episode, "Tall Drink of Water," for instance, John only appears in two scenes, both of which last less than five minutes (Costner, per Deadline's reporting, limited himself to being on set for just 50 days across the episodes which have already aired).

This is not to say that Costner isn't a compelling on-screen presence. It was, of course, the Hollywood heavyweight's casting that got viewers tuning in when the show premiered in 2018. Five years on, however, the actor has seemingly outgrown the role, having set his sights on directing and cowriting his own Western epic.

Speaking to USA Today in November, shortly after the new season began airing, Costner tactfully avoided giving a definitive answer about what his future on the show looked like.

"I was only going to do one season, but I've done this many. I give everything I can to what I'm doing," he offered instead, referencing the fact that the show was originally pitched to him as a 10-episode limited series.

"But the moment I feel that it's not right, I'm just going to step away," he added.

It seems that the moment has finally arrived.

Matthew McConaughey is reportedly in talks to lead a new as-yet-untitled series that will continue the franchise

With Costner looking to pack up and go, it appears that Sheridan has set his eyes on another gravelly-voiced actor to take over as the face of the franchise. The name that Deadline reports the network currently has attached to lead the as-yet-untitled spinoff is Matthew McConaughey, an actor who seems well-matched to Sheridan's neo-Western sensibilities.

The Oscar-winner has already proven himself in the genre, having previously starred in the Western noir "Lone Star" (1996) and the Texas-set black comedy "Killer Joe" (2011). On a purely aesthetic level, it's also not that hard to imagine McConaughey in the role of a rancher: he's donned Stetsons in everything from "Bernie"(2011) and "Dallas Buyers Club" (2013) to "Magic Mike" (2012).

McConaughey also knows a thing or two about making must-see television, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't rate his powerful turn as Rustin Cohle in HBO's first season of "True Detective."

Moreover, scoring McConaughey isn't too ambitious when you consider the A-listers Sheridan has been able to attract for his existing "Yellowstone" spinoffs.

The world of 'Yellowstone' is expanding fast and the existing spinoffs have proven to be huge successes

Sheridan's first "Yellowstone" origin series, "1883," which ran for one season and starred country music power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill proved a bonafide success with audiences. In 2021, the first episode pulled in 4.9 million total viewers on Paramount Network and set the record for streaming service Paramount+'s most-watched original series premiere at the time.

"1923," meanwhile, has outdone its predecessor in both star power and viewing figures. The Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-led series, which continues the story of the Duttons almost half a century after "1883," broke the record for the streamer's biggest debut ever last year with 7.4 million viewers across Paramount Network and Paramount+.

It's hardly surprising that last month it was announced that "1923" has been renewed for a second season, allowing Sheridan to stretch out the story of prodigal son Spencer Dutton's (Brandon Sklenar) odyssey back to his Montana roots while continuing to build out the abstruse Dutton family tree.

"1883" is also getting a sequel of sorts. A continuation set in the same period, titled "Bass Reeves" and starring David Oyelowo as the legendary Wild West lawman, is already well into filming.

In short, Sheridan is proving himself to be a one-man powerhouse for Paramount.

The new flagship show could be '6666,' a series that Sheridan has been developing for two years

While no details have been shared yet, it's possible that the new McConaughey-led show could be the long-teased spinoff revolving around life on the 6666 (pronounced Four Sixes) Ranch, a real-life ranch in Texas that Sheridan snapped up after it went on the market for $347.7 million in 2020.

First announced in early 2021, the series — which has been given the tentative title "6666" — was originally billed as a period piece taking place in the mid-19th century "when Comanches still ruled West Texas."

However, this doesn't line up with what viewers saw when they were introduced to life on the 6666 in season four of "Yellowstone."

Instead, in what was essentially a season-long backdoor pilot, audiences were introduced to the modern-day ranchers working and living on the centuries-old and county-spanning ranch. Among them was former Yellowstone ranch hand, Jimmy (Jefferson White), who has gone from "Eminem at a hayride" to a cowboying pro thanks to his training at the 6666.

There were a handful of other characters, some real professional horsemen, and one played by Sheridan himself, but beyond Jimmy's transformation and romance with vet tech Emily (Kathryn Kelly), the 6666 is still ripe for exploring. So, could this be where Texas native McConaughey comes in?

It certainly could be, given the events of the "Yellowstone" midseason finale, which saw several of the show's major players set off for the 6666 in a shoehorned-in storyline involving infected cattle and a sudden need to make the Yellowstone profitable.

If we're on the money and "6666" does become the contemporary flagship of the franchise, more could join them, as, per Deadline, several "Yellowstone" stars are expected to migrate over to the McConaughey-led series.

Paramount has not confirmed the rumors, nor has it exactly put them to bed

It's worth noting that Paramount isn't confirming any of this for the time being.

"We have no news to report," a Paramount Network spokesperson responded when we reached out for comment. "Kevin Costner is a big part of 'Yellowstone,' and we hope that's the case for a long time to come."

Still, the statement didn't exactly put to bed the rumors, going on to add: "Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we'd love to partner."

It's not difficult to imagine a scenario in which a partnership with McConaughey has already taken place, especially when you consider that just three months ago, Sheridan bragged to Deadline that he has a "show that no one knows much about" that has "got probably four of the biggest movie stars alive in it."

The question is: if McConaughey is one of them, who are the other three?