The Yellowstone universe, led by creator Taylor Sheridan, is ever expanding with Lawmen: Bass Reeves set to be another new entry. This Paramount Plus original series stars David Oyelowo as the historic 19th-century lawman.
Bass Reeves is going to take place during the same time period as the previous hit Yellowstone prequel 1883. It's just another entry in the Sheridan-verse, alongside 1923, Tulsa King, Lioness, Land Man and 6666 are also on the horizon.
While it was originally developed as a standalone series, Variety now reports that Lawmen: Bass Reeves is expected to be an anthology series that focuses on different famous lawmen throughout history.
But Bass Reeves is the first subject of the series, so here's everything we know about the new western limited series.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves release date
It's currently TBD when Lawmen: Bass Reeves arrives for viewers, but at the very least we know that it is going to be available exclusively on Paramount Plus whenever it does premiere.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves cast
The Lawmen: Bass Reeves cast is being headline by a few big names, including David Oyelowo and Dennis Quaid.
Oyelowo is going to play Reeves himself. His list of credits include roles in movies like Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Red Tails, Lincoln, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, A Most Violent Year, A United Kingdom, Queen of Katwe and most notably Selma as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On TV, he has appeared in Star Wars: Rebels, The Girl Before and was nominated for an Emmy for his work in the TV movie Nightingale.
Quaid, meanwhile, will play Sherrill Lynn, a Deputy US Marshall. Quaid is a longtime Hollywood star best known for roles in The Parent Trap, The Right Stuff, The Rookie, Any Given Sunday and, more recently, Strange World and American Underdog.
Variety has reported additional casting news, with Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant) and Lauren E. Banks (City on a Hill) joining the show. Goodluck is set to play Billy Crow, a young Cherokee man with an affinity for dime store books and gaudy style, while Banks is playing Jennie, Bass Reeves' strong and fiercely loyal wife.
Another addition to the cast has been reported by Variety, as popular character actor Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, True Grit) has been tapped for a series regular role. Peppers is set to play Esau Pierce, the leader of the 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles and a battle tested warrior.
On March 2, Variety once again was the first to report that Demi Singleton (King Richard) is joining Bass Reeves. Singleton is set to play Sally, Bass and Jennie's precocious daughter.
Again, Variety is now reporting that Garrett Hedlund, who has a role in Sheridan's Tulsa King, is joining the Bass Reeves cast as Garrett Montgomery, a "posse man" that Reeves hires.
Another addition to the cast was first reported by Variety in the same article they shared the show was to be an anthology. The latest actor joining the cast is Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games), who is set to play Judge Isaac Parker, an imposing and commanding judge in the Fort Smith Courthouse with a complicated legacy. The role is said to be a recurring one.
On June 6, Variety reported on a quartet of actors joining the Lawmen: Bass Reeves cast. Dale Dickey (Winter's Bone) joins the cast as Widow Dolliver, an old woman who does not suffer fools; Mo Brings Plenty (Yellowstone) as Minco Dodge, a Choctaw Native American and friend to Reeves; Tosin Morohunfola (Run the World) as Jackson "Jackrabbit" Cole, a former Union soldier turned prisoner; and Margot Bingham (The Walking Dead) as Sara Jumper, a black Seminole Native America who Reeves owes a debt due.
Who is Bass Reeves?
So just who is Bass Reeves?
Bass Reeves is a real-life lawman from the Wild West and one of the first Black deputy US Marshals, given the position in 1875. It is recorded that Reeves killed 14 outlaws and apprehended more than 3,000 throughout his career as he worked a region of 75,000 square miles of Indian Territory (modern-day Kansas and Oklahoma). He is considered one of the greatest frontier lawmen in history and is believed to have been an inspiration for the character of the Lone Ranger.
Bass Reeves plot
Variety shared the first official plot details for Lawmen: Bass Reeves, saying the series will "bring the legendary lawman of the wild west to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded."
Who is directing Bass Reeves?
Taylor Sheridan is serving as an executive producer on 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, as is Oyelowo and his wife Jessica, but the Yellowstone creator has also been set as the director for the first two episodes of the series. Deadline reported the news.
As for who is going to be directing the remaining four episodes of the limited series, that is still unknown, but Oyelowo told Deadline during an event for the launch of Paramount Plus in the UK that he hopes to fill the remaining episodes with a diverse lineup of directors.
"We have to populate the show with a bunch of Black people to make sure that going forward the next Taylors are Black and brown and that there’s a bunch of them, so that it doesn’t become a scarcity of the top-flight Black directors."
Bass Reeves trailer
No, there is no trailer for Bass Reeves as of yet.
