Lawmen: Bass Reeves: New Yellowstone Prequel Celebrates The 'Beauty And Brutality' Of Famed U.S. Marshal's Life — WATCH
And the Duttons of 1883 thought they had it rough.
Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstoneverse will expand once more this weekend with Sunday's premiere of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, a Paramount+ drama chronicling the life of the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. David Oyelowo (Nightingale) plays Reeves, a former slave who was both deeply spiritual and very good at his job, making him a storied figure in the American West.
The eight-episode season takes place in the 1860s and '70s, preceding the events of 1883. (Though originally billed as a spinoff of that series, Lawmen now is just a Yellowstone prequel.) And where 1883 found James Dutton seizing his destiny and hustling his family along the Oregon Trail, Lawmen opens with Bass decidedly not in control of his life or future, the property of a Confederate major who has brought him to the front lines of the Civil War.
In the video above, showrunner and executive producer Chad Feehan says he teared up the first time he watched Oyelowo embody the legendary lawman, during an outdoor shoot for the premiere.
"David is the most dedicated craftsman I've ever been around," the EP says. "Watching his commitment to embodying the man and then see it fully come to fruition in the way that he spoke, the way that he moved, the way that he was dressed, I got emotional... There were a couple of times that I welled up."
Director Damian Marcano adds that Reeves' dedication to his family and wife, Jennie (played by City on a Hill's Lauren E. Banks), provided an intriguing contrast to the violence that marked the marshal's career.
"We're big on beauty and brutality," Marcano says. "The moments with Bass and Jennie are beautiful... [but] there's brutality always on the other side of that door."
Lawmen: Bass Reeves begins streaming Sunday with a two-episode premiere on Paramount+; subsequent episode will follow weekly. Press PLAY on the video above to hear more about the series, then hit the comments: Are you planning to watch?