After Stealing Taylor Sheridan's Best Western In Just Four Minutes, I Want Billy Bob Thornton's Character To Get A Spinoff

After stealing 1883 with barely any screentime, I still want to see Billy Bob Thornton’s lawman character get a spinoff. 1883 is arguably the best of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone spinoffs, which detailed the grueling journey of John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) ancestors to find the land on which the Yellowstone ranch was built.

Billy Bob Thornton did his 1883 cameo as a favor, and Sheridan originally planned to cast an unknown as Marshal Courtright. Thornton and Sheridan got on so well that the latter then penned Landman for Thornton to star in. Given the growing number of Yellowstone offshoots that exist though, I wish one of them involved Thornton’s Courtright.

Billy Bob Thornton’s 1883 Cameo Stole The Whole Show

1883 is a ten-episode odyssey in which the Dutton clan joins a wagon train and are constantly under threat from the harshness of the landscape or the people they encounter. In the second episode, “Behind Us, A Cliff,” wagon train leader Shea (Sam Elliott) heads to Fort Worth to find the gang who attacked their party.

Sam Elliott would reunite with Billy Bob Thornton in Landman season 2, portraying the father of Thornton’s Tommy.

Thus, Shea seeks the assistance of Thornton’s Marshal Courtright, who takes them to the local saloon. Pretty soon, the gang is identified and, with exceptional bluntness, Courtright shoots most of them dead. Thornton steals 1883 inside of four minutes with his cameo, where he is both captivating and terrifying.

The patrons in the saloon (just like the audience at home, presumably) are left stunned by Courtright’s actions, which he sums up with “There’s only one killer in Fort Worth, and that’s me!” Thornton’s ice-cold demeanor and calm are what make Courtright so compelling, and it’s a shame he’s only in the episode for a couple of scenes.

Billy Bob Thornton’s Marshal Courtright Could Have Fronted A Solo Series

Jim Courtright City Marshal Fort Worth on a door in 1883 — Stills from 1883 episode 2 behind us a cliff

Thornton’s cameo made me read up on the real Jim Courtright. Marshal Courtright was a feared gunman in the Old West and was a mix of both lawman and outlaw. After serving with the Union Army during the Civil War, Courtright went on to become a Marshal in Fort Worth.

As depicted in 1883, his idea of justice was typically served with a revolver, but the murder rate also dropped like a stone during Courtright’s tenure. It should be noted that while Courtright would have been in his late 30s during the events of 1883, Thornton himself was in his late 60s when he played the part.

During his reign in Fort Worth, Courtright was suspected of committing multiple murders and running protection rackets. Courtright was later thrown out of office, and after various gigs working as a hired gun or ranch foreman, he was shot and killed in a pistol duel in 1887 against gunfighter Luke Short.

So, in summary, Courtright led a complicated life that sounds like prime material for a Taylor Sheridan show. I’d love to see Thornton reprise his 1883 role for a miniseries in the same vein as Sheridan’s Bass Reeves, but as he’s currently focused on Landman, that feels unlikely now.