This image released by CBS Entertainment shows Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, center, and Logan Marshall-Green as Pete Calvin in a scene from "Marshals." (Sonja Flemming/CBS via AP)

NEW YORK — Luke Grimes thought he’d said goodbye to stoic Kayce Dutton. The universe of “Yellowstone” had other ideas.

In the hit show’s fifth and final season in 2024, Dutton rode off into the proverbial sunset at peace, building a new life ranching on his own terms with his wife and son.

“I thought, ‘This is it,'” says Grimes. “I love the way this ends for him. He kind of got what he always wanted, which is just a simple life.”

Luckily for fans — somewhat less so for Dutton — that simple life is upended as Grimes once more slips into the role for the prime-time spinoff “Marshals,” which premieres Sunday on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

In an artful piece of writing, showrunner Spencer Hudnut takes Dutton from a neo-Western family drama to a Western law enforcement procedural, giving him a badge and having him join a band of U.S. Marshals in Montana.

“We wanted to make it feel organic and we wanted there to be enough of the sort of ethos of ‘Yellowstone’ in there that the original fans could have something to hold on to getting into the show, but then have it have somewhere to go that felt like its own thing,” says Grimes.

During the pilot, Dutton meets with an old comrade from his days as a Navy SEAL who gradually recruits him into their four-person Marshal team.

“May look like God’s country but the devil’s running free out here,” Dutton’s friend tells him. “I’m guessing you got your own demons to conquer, and I could sure use another door-kicker.”

“Marshals” allows the show’s creators to explore the military backstory of Dutton, a combat veteran with Special Forces skills. In the first episode, viewers will see Dutton smartly unlock a cellphone with a dead man’s eyes, a talent that wasn’t exploited on the Taylor Sheridan-led “Yellowstone.”

“We barely scratched the surface of that,” says Grimes. “In a way, it was kind of a blessing because we have all that stuff to explore now without it feeling like we just made some stuff up.”

Grimes says Dutton looks beyond the ranching life to take the job as a U.S. Marshal as a way to come out of his shell, help people and recover from personal tragedy.

“Clearly he’s making an effort to do something different here and change his life and change his son’s life at the same time,” says Grimes. “Because whatever dream that he had is over now, he’s never getting it back.”