It’s been over a year since Yellowstone ended after five seasons, but the universe is alive and well with multiple upcoming spinoffs. The latest one, Marshals, just premiered on CBS on the 2026 TV schedule, with Luke Grimes reprising his role as Kayce Dutton. While the actor was ready to let Kayce go, he revealed why and how Marshals got him to put the cowboy hat back on.
Grimes was announced to be returning to his beloved role in March 2025 for the then-titled Y: Marshals, taking him away from the Yellowstone Ranch to join a specialized group of U.S. Marshals. The announcement came as a surprise, especially since Grimes shared some heartfelt goodbyes to Kayce on social media surrounding the Yellowstone finale. So it’s no surprise that he had some reservations about the new show for several reasons, as he told the Los Angeles Times:
I had never watched a procedural before, so I had to do some homework on what that was. And I just couldn’t wrap my head around it at first. In the finale, Kayce had ridden off into the sunset. So I thought, ‘Let him be, let him go.’
Since Kayce got a fitting ending for Yellowstone, it was hard to imagine what could bring him to join the U.S. Marshals, so it makes sense why Grimes was hesitant at first. Not only did he say goodbye to Kayce, but it seemed like Kayce’s story was over. Then there’s the fact that he had never done a procedural before, and Marshals and Yellowstone are formatted differently, so that’s something else that Grimes had to get used to.
Of course, even despite saying goodbye to Kayce, Grimes admitted that he wasn’t truly ready to let him ride off into the sunset forever. Speaking to that, he shared:
To be honest, there was a part of me that didn’t want to let Kayce go just yet. Saying goodbye to him was really hard, so the opportunity to keep this going was something I couldn’t pass up. We get to show his backstory and also this other side of him that we didn’t see in Yellowstone.
Grimes’ reasoning to do Marshals makes sense. Kayce’s story may have been done on Yellowstone, but it’s just getting started on the new spinoff. Even though Yellowstone ran for five seasons, Marshals gives Grimes the chance to really focus on Kayce in ways that he wasn’t able to before, and dig deeper into him as he starts this new chapter of his life.
Marshals only premiered on Sunday, but already it is making waves following the death of a surprising character that Grimes was really upset about. There will be much more to come in the new series, and it’s already proving that nothing is predictable. For Yellowstone fans, it’s probably been nice seeing Kayce Dutton again, and a few other Yellowstone favorites, and who knows who else will be making an appearance in the future.
Kayce Dutton is not the only Yellowstone character that fans will be seeing again. Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly are set to reprise their roles as Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton for their own upcoming spinoff, so there is a lot to look forward to when it comes to the Duttons. And that’s not even including the other upcoming spinoffs. You can watch Marshals on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.
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