Published Apr 14, 2026, 6:02 PM EDT
After joining Screen Rant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers.
Taylor Sheridan’s new Paramount+ series Dutton Ranch won’t just be the latest installment of the Yellowstone franchise. It will also feature a crossover from Sheridan's new flagship series, Landman.
Not many franchise creators could pull off the trick of casting an actor in two different roles across multiple shows in successive TV seasons, but the master of modern small-screen Westerns is in a league of his own. His latest Yellowstone followup is recasting the figure responsible for some of Landman season 1’s best moments as a whole new character.
It’s important to note that Dutton Ranch was actually created by Chad Feehan, based on the story of Taylor Sheridan’s first TV series. Sheridan’s involvement in this new show is limited to a supervising role, as one of 13 executive producers.
Nevertheless, he’s undoubtedly played a key part in the recruitment of a standout Landman actor to the cast of this Yellowstone spinoff. J. R. Villarreal will play Azul in Dutton Ranch, when its first season debuts on May 19. Although we don’t have many details about Villarreal’s new character at this stage, he’s clearly pivotal to the show.
Taylor Sheridan's Dutton Ranch Features Landman Actor J. R. Villarreal
Yellowstone’s latest followup series Dutton Ranch has quite possibly the best cast in the franchise, with lead actors Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser joined by an assortment of Hollywood royalty and Western genre specialists. Annette Bening and Ed Harris are the highest-profile cast members, but neither of them is the name that jumps out to fans of Taylor Sheridan’s Landman.
J. R. Villarreal starred as well-driller Manuel Lopez in the first season of Paramount+’s hit drama about work in the oilfields of Texas. Now he’s back in another Western series originated by Sheridan, playing a brand-new character based in the same American state. Villarreal is now portraying Rip Wheeler’s chief lieutenant on the titular farm in Dutton Ranch.
According to the brief description released by Paramount+, Villarreal’s character Azul is “a whipcord wrangler, and a guy who becomes Rip’s right-hand man in Texas.” We can expect to see the actor handling plenty of horses during the course of the show, then, while serving as Rip’s most loyal subordinate.
This role stands in stark contrast to Manuel’s sharp clashes with Cooper Norris in Landman season 1. On the other hand we’re likely to see Azul act as an enforcer who’s happy to carry out Rip’s dirty work, even if it involves violent confrontations.
Landman has long been touted as Yellowstone’s perfect replacement, so it’s no surprise that the show actually replacing Taylor Sheridan’s most popular TV Western shares several key similarities with the Billy Bob Thornton drama. Besides the fact that they both feature J. R. Villarreal, Dutton Ranch and Landman are set just 200 miles apart.
The Yellowstone spinoff is supposedly based in southern Texas, but has primarily been filmed in Ferris, just south of Dallas. Meanwhile, Landman is set in the oil-rich Permian Basin of West Texas. In addition, both shows focus on dysfunctional families with a patriarch trying to make a living from one of the Lone Star State’s main industries.
We should expect Finn Little’s Carter, the adopted son of Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton, to serve as the show’s young upstart looking to prove himself, much like Cooper Norris in Landman. As with Cooper, Finn will also be at the center of the most compelling love story in his series.
Dutton Ranch's Landman Connections Could Help Make It Yellowstone's Most Successful Spinoff
Given the spectacular streaming success that Landman has been for Taylor Sheridan, it’s no bad thing that Dutton Ranch has things in common with the series. If it really does end up being Yellowstone’s best spinoff, there’s every chance the show appeals to the same audience that’s propelled Billy Bob Thornton to the height of his popularity.
J. R. Villarreal’s supporting role alongside two of Yellowstone’s most outstanding actors might not make the headlines, but it’s a critical link that binds two central components of Sheridan’s TV universe going forward. Dutton Ranch has a lot going for it, but its Landman connections could be crucial to the series fulfilling its potential to be a TV Western megahit.
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