Beth and Rip’s spinoff has the perfect story for an original Yellowstone villain after the actor revealed that his antagonist wasn’t dead, despite being shot by Kevin Costner’s John Dutton.

Taylor Sheridan’s massively popular neo-Western series concluded in December 2024 with the fifth season of Yellowstone. However, the story will continue in several upcoming Yellowstone spinoffs.

The most exciting of all the anticipated offshoots is Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff, which will see Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprise their beloved characters. Another original character, one of the fiercest villains in the franchise, could also return to the continuation, putting Dutton and Wheeler head-to-head again with one of the family’s most formidable foes.

Yellowstone Villain Malcolm Beck Isn’t Dead Yet, According To Neal McDonough

No One Witnessed Malcolm Beck’s Death

It appeared Malcolm Beck (Neal McDonough) was gone for good. Malcolm and his brother, Teal (Terry Serpico), came after the Dutton family in Yellowstone season 2, and the Duttons retaliated by killing both the Beck brothers and every member of the group they hired to kidnap Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) son, Tate (Brecken Merrill).

When Kayce caught Teal by surprise, shooting him on the toilet, Beck revealed that they used the Montana Free Militia to kidnap Tate, who was camped in a rundown house at the base of the Crazy Mountains. When John and the others arrive, Malcolm is there and tries to get away. John stops Beck, shooting him and seemingly killing him.

Still looking for Tate, John promised Malcolm that he would take him to a hospital if he revealed where they were keeping his grandson. Malcolm tells the location, but declines Dutton’s offer to get medical attention, believing he would die. Therefore, when John leaves Malcolm to die in peace, the assumption is that the villain has passed on.

The actor has a different take on his final scene in Yellowstone.

The actor has a different take on his final scene in Yellowstone. In a recent interview with Collider, Neal McDonough revealed that his Yellowstone character was alive, claiming that no one saw him die. Considering that the impossible is possible in the Yellowstone universe, Beck’s survival isn’t out of the question.

Other Yellowstone characters have made miraculous recoveries, rebounding from the brink of death. John Dutton has multiple gunshot wounds in his chest at the end of Yellowstone season 3. With John miles from a hospital, it looks like he won’t make it, but we find out in Yellowstone season 4 that Dutton survived. Beck could make a similarly miraculous comeback.

Malcolm Beck Would Be A Great Villain For Beth & Rip To Face In Their Yellowstone Spinoff

Beth & Rip Have Personal Beef With The Villain

If Malcolm Beck is alive in Yellowstone, there’s no better place for the villain’s return than in Beth and Rip’s spinoff, and Neal McDonough himself has wondered about returning to the offshoot. The couple already had a beef with Malcolm Beck, since the brothers sent men to sexually assault and kill Beth while they were waging war on the family.

That said, beyond Tate’s kidnapping and the other violent acts the Beck brothers committed against the family, Beth and Rip have a personal vendetta against the villain.

Malcolm’s return to the spinoff would provide Dutton and Wheeler with a layered conflict to navigate, reintroducing a familiar villain with a robust story back into Yellowstone‘s narrative while sparking a new conflict.

McDonough shares a connection to Yellowstone star Cole Hauser. The actor notes that the Rip actor is one of his “dearest pals” and that there’s nothing he would love more than “to go toe to toe with Cole on the show.” That said, with the way Rip Wheeler fights, McDonough’s return would surely lead to Malcolm Beck’s certain Yellowstone death.