‘Yellowstone’ Prequel ‘Y:1883’: Everything to Know

Fans have more than just Yellowstone Season 4 to look forward to. As production on the upcoming season continues in Missouri, work is also getting started on a Yellowstone spinoff, Y: 1883. The spinoff was confirmed to be in the works earlier in February, and while it is still too early for too many details to be revealed, we already know quite a bit about Y: 1883.

Created and produced by Taylor Sheridan by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, who said he is “excited to continue the story of Yellowstone,” Y: 1883 was first confirmed to be in the works on Feb. 5. Fans got their first glimpse of the series when a teaser trailer aired during Super Bowl LV just days later. In that teaser, an unknown voice could be heard saying, “I don’t care if you live or die. But should you live… you tell them about me.” The series is set to throw fans more than a century in the past as it follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. According to an official synopsis, the series “is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land — Montana.”

Although details of the Dutton family’s origins in Yellowstone likely won’t be revealed until the series premieres, Looper noted that 1883 was an eventful year for Yellowstone National Park. It was during 1883 that construction on the Northern Pacific Railroad, which connected U.S. territories together, reached the north boundary of Yellowstone National Park, in Montana. As fans of Yellowstone know, the series takes place in Montana, and Paramount’s synopsis teased Y: 1883 will follow the Duttons as they set off for Montana, making it likely that the Northern Pacific Railroad could come into play.

Fans, however, should not expect to see any familiar faces. Given that the prequel is set in 1883, none of Yellowstone‘s cast members will appear, as their onscreen counterparts hadn’t been born by that time. Casting decisions have not yet been announced, nor have character names and details. Paramount did tease, however, that Y: 1883 will premiere sometime in 2021, though an exact premiere date has not been revealed. The series will air on Paramount+.

The series is part of Sheridan’s new multi-year deal with Paramount Network. On Feb. 5, ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment Group announced they had “preemptively extended their relationship” with Sheridan, who will “create exclusive multi-platform content with MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios under the multi-year pact which includes five cycles per year of scripted and procedural series.”

As fans wait to tune into Y: 1883, they can catch up on the first three seasons of Yellowstone, which are available for streaming on Peacock. Season 4 does not yet have a premiere date. The prequel series will debut later in 2021.