Yellowstone fans calling for a young John Dutton prequel

Kevin Costner headlines Yellowstone as John Dutton, but one of the breakout stars in Yellowstone season 5 has been young John Dutton, played by Josh Lucas.

Lucas is not new to Yellowstone, as he has played young John Dutton in flashbacks since season 1, appearing in six episodes to date. However, he hadn't appeared on the show since season 2 until popping up in both Yellowstone season 5 episode 2 and Yellowstone season 5 episode 3. This return has fans buzzing on social media about Lucas' spot-on casting and curious if there's a chance for a spinoff series on the young John Dutton.

Part of the reason that fans are getting excited about young John Dutton is that we're seeing him in some pretty entertaining flashback scenes. In episode 2, he confronts a group of construction workers that are using a chemical spray that's killing his cattle. When the overseer tells him the EPA says its harmless, John sets out to prove him wrong. He has the cowboys, including a young Rip Wheeler (Kyle Red Silverstein), trash the construction site and then has them spray the overseer's house with the chemical. When the overseer comes out to see what's going on, they knock him out and he ends up covered with some of the spray. The next morning, the overseer wakes up with chemical burns and plants and insects that were sprayed are all dead.

While that was an example of the kind of Montana justice viewers have come to love seeing the Yellowstone crew enact against those who threaten their way of life, episode 3 gave us a glimpse at Lucas being the imposing figure over Montana's government. After wolves were reintroduced into the area, ranchers were upset that they are now killing their cattle, something the government said they could handle. While the government tries to pass it off as an overreaction, John — Livestock Commissioner at this time — says his cattle have been killed by wolves too and threatens that if the government doesn't take care of it they are going to have to deal with him.

There currently isn't any announced plans for a Yellowstone prequel series about Lucas' young John Dutton, but it's not a stretch to think one could happen. We've already seen 1883, which followed the Duttons' journey to Montana, and are getting 1923 with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in December 2022. Taylor Sheridan has even said that he has an interest in doing more Yellowstone prequels on other key eras of the Dutton family history, possibly the 1940s and 1960s. Could that eventually go into the 1990s and feature this young John Dutton?

Costner has been great as John Dutton, but he has always been more of the man behind the curtain at the Yellowstone, with Rip (Cole Hauser) taking more of the direct action on his orders. Perhaps what has fans excited about a possible prequel series focusing on a young John Dutton is that they'd get to see him really take the lead in the fight to defend his ranch. Also, Lucas has been a well respected actor for a long time with roles in Glory Road and Sweet Home Alabama. This would give him an opportunity to star in a series, with a fanbase that already supports him in this role.

Fans praise Josh Lucas' young John Dutton

Here's some of the things that Yellowstone fans are saying about Josh Lucas as young John Dutton:

New episodes of Yellowstone season 5 premiere Sundays on Paramount Network in the US and Mondays on Paramount Plus in the UK.