‘Yellowstone’ fans think they know how Kevin Costner is written off

Kevin Costner reportedly is not returning to “Yellowstone” — and now the show’s fans are theorizing how his character, rancher patriarch John Dutton, will be written off the wildly popular Paramount Network series.

Costner, 69, has been feuding with series co-creator Taylor Sheridan for months, initially over reports that he wanted to cut down his “Yellowstone” work schedule on the second half of Season 5, shooting of which was delayed by the double-whammy WGA and SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strikes.

The season is now scheduled to premiere in November.

In the first half of Season 5, Dutton was elected governor of Montana.

According to a report in Puck, Costner reportedly called Sheridan last year in an attempt to repair the damage between them and to appear in the second half of Season 5.

Unfortunately for him, that discussion did not end well, reportedly because Costner wanted veto power over Sheridan’s scripts, which was a nonstarter.

That adds intrigue to how Dutton could be written off “Yellowstone” — since Costner reportedly has a “moral death” clause in his contract “that severely limits the way his character … could be killed off,” according to Puck — which includes “deaths that would cause shame and embarrassment to John Dutton.”

Now, fans are weighing in on Dutton’s possible fate.

One theory that’s been catching fire, according to Screen Rant, is that Dutton could be killed off when the series returns after a recurrence of the colon cancer he battled in Season 1.

In the show’s inaugural season, Dutton initially hid his colon cancer diagnosis from his adult children Beth (Kelly Reilly), Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) and underwent a seemingly successful operation to have the cancer removed — but Beth and Jamie eventually found out.

In Season 2, it was feared that Dutton’s cancer had returned when he started coughing up blood — but that turned out to be a ruptured ulcer.

Now, according to the report in Screen Rant, one “Yellowstone” fan scenario that could play out is that Dutton’s colon cancer has returned — and might claim his life, which would seemingly not violate a death that “would cause shame and embarrassment” as per Costner’s “moral death” clause.

Whatever befalls Dutton, Sheridan and his “Yellowstone” compatriots are moving ahead with plans for a series spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey reportedly titled “2024.”

Unfortunately, no more details about the new series have been released.

“To go have some structure like, ‘I got a call time, I’ve got lines, I’ve got scenes, I’ve got a character.’ That sounds like a vacation right now to me,” McConaughey, 53, said in a podcast interview on “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard.”

It will be the fifth “Yellowstone” spinoff following the prequel series “1883” — starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill — and “1923,” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

Also in the works: prequel series “1944” and a spinoff called “6666.”

“Yellowstone” has also proven to be a success on broadcast television.

CBS began airing Season 1 and Season 2 reruns last fall on Sunday nights, which garnered over 5 million viewers a week.

Sheridan has also been feuding with “Yellowstone” co-star Cole Hauser and sued him for trademark infringement — claiming that the logo for Hauser’s coffee line, Free Rein Coffee Company, looks too much like the logo for Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch.