1923 star Brandon Sklenar discusses potentially returning as Spencer Dutton in a future Yellowstone spinoff. Spencer’s epic two-season journey home to Montana reached its dramatic climax in the just-premiered 1923 season 2 finale. It was indeed a tragic ending for Spencer’s romance with Alexandra, but the story also left new hope for the future in the form of the couple’s child John Dutton II, confirmed as the father of Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone character.
1923 may indeed have ended after season 2, but the Yellowstone franchise continues on, and Spencer actor Sklenar has expressed interest in returning as the character in one of the show’s planned spinoffs, hinting at the upcoming 1944 as the logical vehicle for telling more of Spencer’s story (via Variety):
I know that 1944 is a thing that they are planning on doing here, and maybe we see Spencer in 1944. That is something I would be interested in doing. I love this character. … This is my first television experience, and just walking around with this guy, this character, inside of you for three years, it’s crazy. He is still there. It has affected who I am, it has changed who I am. So I would love to continue to do it in any capacity if I could.
What This Means For The Yellowstone Franchise
1944 Is Next Up In The Dutton Saga
1923’s series finale gave some hint as to where the in-development Yellowstone spinoff 1944 might go in terms of storytelling. The episode’s coda revealed that Spencer raises John Dutton II, never remarrying, but taking up with a widow with whom he has another son. Spencer lives to old age, finally dying literally on top of Alexandra’s grave.
It would perhaps be somewhat sad to see Spencer living on without Alexandra at his side, but Sklenar and Alex actor Julia Schlaepfer have a plan for bringing Spencer’s departed love back for 1944, as they detailed recently to ScreenRant:
Brandon Sklenar: Right now, I’m just trying to lobby for Jules [Julia Schlaepfer] to be a ghost.
Julia Schlaepfer: Yeah, that’s our goal right now.
Sklenar: She can haunt Spencer in the most beautiful way. Not like a spooky, scary kind of way, but in a kind of fun way.
Schlaepfer: She’ll play a lot of pranks.
Sklenar: Yeah, a lot of pranks. A lot of whisper banter. But, yeah, I’d do it. I’d do it, for sure. If there was a 1944 [series], Spencer’s definitely alive. He’d be in his fifties, so I could just spend the next four months outside, and that’d probably help.
Our Take On Spencer Returning For 1944
Predicting What Sheridan Will Do Is Always Perilous
Moving the story forward to 1944 adds another 20 years to Spencer’s age, taking him into his 50s, an age the 34-year-old Sklenar should have no problem playing with a little help from the makeup and hair departments. Spencer’s son John, meanwhile, would be about 20, making him the perfect age to participate in World War 2.
Spencer might be a little long-in-the-tooth to go to war again in 1944, but there will doubtless be plenty of battles for him to fight back home, as more evil men like 1923’s Whitfield come for his family’s land. Given that Sklenar seems game to return, it seems almost a certainty that Spencer will be in 1944 in some capacity. Whether he is haunted by a ghostly Alexandra remains to be seen, but even a supernatural reunion would be welcome after what befell the couple in 1923 season 2.
It is always somewhat hazardous, however, to pin down Yellowstone creator Sheridan, who loves throwing his viewers curveballs. Sheridan did the unexpected by setting much of 1923 season 1 in Africa, and waiting all the way until the end of season 2 for Spencer to set foot in Montana. It would be no surprise to see Sheridan pull a similar trick with 1944, and set much of the action far away from the Dutton ranch, crafting another epic saga in the process.