Kevin Costner’s exit from Yellowstone after five seasons wasn’t just a sudden blip; it echoed a feud foretold over two decades ago.

Kevin Costner’s departure from Yellowstone was no mere hiccup in a TV series; it was probably the chapter written long before the cameras rolled on the Dutton ranch. Believe it or not, if you think this is just a casual creative disagreement, you’re missing the forest for the trees.

Over thirty years ago, Val Kilmer’s greatest role in Tombstone dropped a subtle hint about the clashes Costner would later have with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. Costner’s creative grip has long been infamous, arguably best captured by a co-star’s brutal description of his 1994 Western Wyatt Earp: “a giant close-up of Kevin for three f**king hours” (via CBR).

His exit after five Yellowstone seasons also wasn’t just about scheduling conflicts with his ambitious Horizon project; it was reportedly about a tug-of-war over storytelling control and artistic vision. The result? A messy divorce between Sheridan & Costner that left viewers disappointed.

Was Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone fallout written in Val Kilmer’s Tombstone role?

Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer in Tombstone | Hollywood Pictures
Now here’s a nugget of Hollywood irony: before Val Kilmer, who died at the age of 65, made Doc Holliday immortal in Tombstone, Kevin Costner was actually in talks to join the film. For Western buffs, Tombstone without Kurt Russell and Kilmer sounds like a ghost town.

And as already mentioned, Costner was once knocking on that door. But creative spats with screenwriter Kevin Jarre shut the saloon before it even opened. Instead, the Yellowstone star saddled up for Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp, reuniting with the man behind Silverado.

While director George P. Cosmatos’ Tombstone zoomed in on the Gunfight at the OK Corral like a spotlight on a campfire showdown, Costner wanted the whole saga, a sprawling odyssey from Earp’s childhood to his twilight years.

The result? A three-hour epic that co-star Michael Madsen famously labeled “a giant close-up of Kevin for three f**king hours.” Ouch. Even Roger Ebert wasn’t buying it, calling it “Tombstone pumped full of hot air” (via CBR).

But Costner’s refusal to step aside wasn’t just about making his own film. Rumor has it, he dialed up the big studios, asking them to keep their hands off Tombstone’s distribution. His shadow loomed so large it scared off stars like Brad Pitt from hopping on board, and director Cosmatos couldn’t convince Buena Vista Pictures to cast his first choices, Richard Gere and Willem Dafoe, as Earp and Holliday.

Inside Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone creative clash with Taylor Sheridan 

Kevin Costner in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount Pictures
The dust didn’t just settle when Kevin Costner left Yellowstone; it kicked up a storm that nobody saw coming. Instead of a heroic farewell befitting a man who’s been the show’s heart and soul, John Dutton was written off in a baffling off-screen ‘sui*ide’. Fans were left gobsmacked. Costner’s own reaction was icy (SiriusXM):

I heard it’s a sui*ide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Sheridan walked the tightrope between respect and frustration:

My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered… But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk… It truncates the closure of his character.

What does that mean? The business got messy, and everyone lost something in the dust-up?

Sheridan also made clear that John Dutton’s death was baked into the show’s blueprint from the start, regardless of Costner’s presence. As he said,

I don’t do ‘f–k you car crashes’. Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage.

Kevin Costner is a titan who loves his work with the fierceness of a wildfire, but sometimes, that fire can probably burn the barn down. His passion and protective grip on his roles have made him a Western legend, sure, but it has also cost him dearly. Yellowstone was his comeback rodeo, and he rode tall in the saddle for five seasons.

What do you think: was Costner’s departure the right call or a self-inflicted wound?