Lawmen: Bass Reeves Star Says Yellowstone “Laid the Groundwork” For the Series

When the series that ultimately became Lawmen: Bass Reeves was first announced back in 2022, it was billed as 1883: The Bass Reeves Story and was set to be a spinoff of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel series, 1883. That changed, however, and by the time Lawmen arrived on Paramount+ this November, it was no longer a part of the Yellowstone universe. Despite the shift, Sheridan remained connected to the series, serving as an executive producer and now, series star and executive producer David Oyelowo says that Sheridan and the Yellowstone universe — particularly 1883 — laid the groundwork for Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

“The amazing thing about what he has been able to build with Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, that audience, the tone that he’s created, it laid the groundwork for a show like Bass Reeves being able to exist because the idea of doing this show has been with me since the project was brought to me in 2014, and we went out with it in 2015,” Oyelowo said. “The entire industry — cable networks, studios, they all turned it down. Streaming didn’t even exist then. That’s how long we’ve been trying to get this done. And then in 2017, they all turned it down again. First time around they said, ‘We’re not doing this because no one’s doing westerns.’ Second time around, they said, ‘We’re not doing this because everyone’s doing westerns.’ When you hear that you, you go, ‘Okay, there’s some funny business going on here.’”

He continued, “And then along comes Taylor Sheridan and this underserved audience who love westerns, who love the tone of what he’s doing, who love the fact that he’s looking at this place in America that you could argue had become ignored in contemporaneous TV and film. And that gave us the platform, that gave us the foundation.”

“This needed to be different, but they shared DNA, especially with 1883,” he added. “I remember seeing that and thinking, ‘Whoa, now I have a very clear vision of what Bass Reeves could be.’ I hadn’t seen anything like that from an episodic standpoint, from a scope and scale standpoint in recent history that was so in line with my personal vision and ambition for the show. And again, I would say he laid the groundwork for us to build upon.”

What Is Lawmen: Bass Reeves About?

Lawmen: Bass Reeves tells “the untold story of the most legendary lawman in the Old West” and “follows the journey of Reeves (Oyelowo) and his rise from enslavement to law enforcement as the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. Despite arresting over 3,000 outlaws during the course of his career, the weight of the badge was heavy, and he wrestled with its moral and spiritual cost to his beloved family. Lawmen: Bass Reeves is an all-new, standalone anthology series and future iterations will follow other iconic lawmen and outlaws who have impacted history.”

The series stars Oyelowo, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck, Emmy Award winner Barry Pepper, Honorary Oscar recipient Donald Sutherland, Emmy Award nominee Dennis Quaid, Shea Whigham and Garrett Hedlund as guest stars, and, in recurring roles, Joaquina Kalukango, Lonnie Chavis, Grantham Coleman, Tosin Morohunfola, Dale Dickey, Rob Morgan, Ryan O’Nan, Margot Bingham, Mo Brings Plenty, Justin Hurtt-Dunkley, and Bill Dawes.

Will There Be A Season 2 of Lawmen: Bass Reeves?

A second season of Lawmen: Bass Reeves has not yet been announced, and while Oyelowo is open to continuing the format the series started, he’d like to see the stories of other figures told.

“We’ll see,” Oyelowo said in a previous interview. “I mean, the reason it’s called Lawmen: Bass Reeves is there’s a real intention to showcase other stories and characters that are maybe even less known than his. That’s certainly my hope. Hopefully, we’ve blown the hinges off the door for who walks in after us. There’s plenty of other folks who built this country and were integral to what the West was. I have a voracious appetite; I’m very dedicated to the contextualization of Black life. There’s so much more to do and say and celebrate, so I’m focused on those. For now, I’m passing the baton to whoever’s got next.”

Lawmen: Bass Reeves is now streaming on Paramount+.