Sam Elliott Isn’t The Only Justified Veteran Leading Taylor Sheridan’s Highly-Anticipated Returning Western Crime Series

July 12, 2025

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Sam Elliott will join Landman season 2, but he isn’t the only star from the popular Western show, Justified, who’s leading the cast of Taylor Sheridan’s oil drama. The second season of the Billy Bob Thornton-led series will premiere in November 2025. Adding Elliott to the cast will reunite him with Thornton, after they appeared on-screen together in Tombstone and 1883.

Landman season 2 will also mark the reunion of two cast members of Justified, another critically acclaimed neo-Western TV show. The six-season series debuted on FX in 2010, its 2015 ending predating Taylor Sheridan’s massively popular Yellowstone saga. So, Landman season 2 is building upon several Western team-ups, with opportunities to improve them.

Landman Season 2’s Sam Elliott & Jacob Lofland Previously Starred On Justified (But Not Together)

Sam Elliott And Jacob Lofland Starred On Justified In Seasons 5 And 6

Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland) in Landman episode 5

Two leading Landman cast members starred in Justified. That said, the pairing didn’t appear on-screen together. Lofland, a key player in Landman as Cooper Norris, plays Kendall Crowe in Justified season 5. Like Cooper, Crowe maintains a sense of intelligence and morality in a corrupted landscape, with Kendall stuck in a pattern of criminal influence.

As a marijuana tycoon who comes to stake a claim on land in Harlan County, Elliott appears the following season, joining Justified’s sixth and final chapter as Avery Markham. Elliott’s character becomes the primary antagonist in Justified season 6. At odds with Timothy Olyphant’s leading Raylan Givens and others, Elliott’s Avery Markham is like Justified’s final boss.

Sam Elliott as Avery Markham wearing a suit and bolo tie in Justified season 6, episode 3

Sam Elliott’s involvement in Landman season 2 is almost definitely going to be great, and this Timothy Olyphant Western from 2010 proves it.

Elliott’s Justified character shares similarities with his character in Yellowstone’s prequel, 1883. Elliott plays Shea Brennan, a Union veteran and wagon train leader for the Oregon Trail. Both Elliott’s characters are charismatic but cruel. That said, Elliott’s Shea Brennan has more emotional range, so I wonder how his addition to Landman’s cast will compare to his other Western personas.

Landman Season 2 Needs To Make Up For Elliott & Lofland’s Lack Of Justified Scenes Together

Will Sam Elliott and Jacob Lofland’s Landman Characters Meet In The Oil Patch?

With Landman season 2 marking the Justified alums’ reunion, Taylor Sheridan has a fun opportunity to improve upon FX’s Western. Landman can feature Sam Elliott and Jacob Lofland on-screen together, which didn’t happen in Justified. We still don’t know how Elliott’s new character factors into Landman’s story, but there’s a good chance he’ll be out in the oil patch.

Sam Elliott could be Landman’s new fixer.

Sam Elliott could be Landman’s new fixer. After Jon Hamm’s Monty Miller dies at the end of Landman season 1, Tommy will step up to run M-TEX, so someone else needs to run the patch. Elliott would be perfect. However, it’s unclear if that will put him side-by-side with Cooper, who will continue building a business in Landman season 2.