Kevin Costner had a brutal response to the end of Yellowstone season 5

After five lively and immensely popular seasons of television, Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” has finally galloped off into the sunset. However, fans know that this is far from the end of the franchise; The prequel series “1923,” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, will return for its second and final season in February 2025, while spin-offs “1944,” “The Madison” (with Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox), an untitled continuation of Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip’s (Cole Hauser) story, and “6666” are likely on the way. “Yellowstone,” for better or worse, isn’t going anywhere.

One person who is unlikely to set foot on the ranch again is Kevin Costner, the star whose John Dutton III was the driving force of the original series. Costner and Sheridan’s happy, creative marriage crashed hard when the duo couldn’t figure out how the former could film their epic western “Horizon: An American Saga” while fulfilling their obligations to “Yellowstone.” This ended with Costner leaving the show, resulting in Sheridan writing him off by having a group of assassins take down John.

Immediately after the episode featuring Dutton’s death (which at first appeared to be a suicide), Costner told radio host Michael Smerconish that he didn’t see it. “I heard it’s a suicide,” he said, “so that doesn’t make me want to rush to see it.” Still, fans couldn’t help but wonder if the star caught up with the miniseason and saw the end. Thanks to the daily mailThey finally have their answer.

If you were hoping Costner would have softened his stance toward Sheridan and the “Yellowstone” franchise, you can forget about that entirely. “I’m not thinking about (the ending),” Costner said. “I don’t think he thought about it, we’ll just let it go.”

This sounds a lot like the classic drill meme“I’m not angry. Please don’t publish in the newspaper that I was angry.” Costner has a reputation for being touchy in interviews, and he has added reason to be upset that the finished sequel to “Horizon: An American Saga” was pulled from New Line’s release schedule when the first film, partially financed by the star, it grossed just $38.2 million on a $50 million budget (after receiving mostly negative reviews). It is still unknown when “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2” will hit theaters and what will happen to the promised third and fourth chapters of the epic.

As such, it’s understandable that Costner looked at Sheridan’s rapidly expanding “Yellowstone” universe and felt a little raw about it. On the other hand, he is making movies and has the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for “Dances with Wolves” to back up his mastery of the craft. It’s been a not-so-ideal creative process, but we’re rooting for Costner.

“Yellowstone” is currently streaming on Peacock.