Kevin Costner sounds like he’s moved on when it comes to John Dutton’s fate and the finale of Taylor Sheridan and John Linson’s Yellowstone.
While we await official word on what might be going on with a potential spinoff/sequel series that would see Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprise their respective roles as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, one thing is definitely certain: the only way Kevin Costner’s John S. Dutton is going to be involved is in spirit (or what would probably be a pretty pricey return for a flashback). It didn’t take long for Taylor Sheridan and John Linson’s Yellowstone to take John Dutton out of the game permanently during its midseason return and spent a decent amount of time during the final episodes kicking a little more mud on his memory (in many ways, rightfully so). Though he shared that he hadn’t watched the return episode that revealed John Dutton’s less-than-noble death (a murder made to look like a suicide) last month, Costner shared with The Daily Mail that he’s moving on. In a recent interview with the actor/filmmaker, Costner was asked for his thoughts on John Dutton’s fate during the hit series’ final run. “I’m not thinking about [the ‘Yellowstone’ finale]. I don’t think I’ve given it any thoughts; we’ll just let it go.”
Yellowstone: Kevin Costner on John Dutton’s Fate
During his visit with SiriusXM’s The Michael Smerconish Program in November 2024, Costner shared his thoughts on his character’s fate during the return episode of Yellowstone. Costner was made aware of where the storyline went with his character, but the actor/director hadn’t watched the actual episode at that point. In fact, Costner claimed he didn’t know the show returned this past weekend.
“Well, I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night. That’s a swear-to-God moment. I swear to God,” Costner revealed. “I mean, I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place, and I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in that one.’ I’m not in this season. But I’ve been seeing… but I didn’t realize yesterday was the thing. I really have… my focus has been on what I was having to do, and I’ve got a few calls to make. So you think — sometimes I’m like just a passenger in my life, you know, there’s a lot going on. And somebody said, ‘You know it played last night?’ And I said, ‘Hmm, OK.’ So no, I found out about it this morning actually.”
Based on what Costner learned regarding John’s demise, it didn’t sound like he planned on watching it anytime soon, either. “I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it,” Costner said. From there, Costner and Smerconish discussed how that wouldn’t fit with a character like John Dutton, with Costner adding an additional thought that would end up being proven before the credits rolled. “Well, they’re pretty smart people. Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out,” the actor/director added.