“Marshals” Showrunner Spencer Hudnut Is ‘Definitely Open’ to Bringing Back Monica Despite Her Shocking Death (Exclusive)

Julia Moore, Yamillah HurtadoSun, October 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton and Kelsey Asbille as Monica Long in ‘Yellowstone’ season 5Credit: Paramount -

Kelsey Asbille’s Yellowstone character Monica was revealed to have died after she was diagnosed with cancer in the season 1 premiere of Marshals

With season 2 underway, Marshals showrunner Spencer Hudnut tells PEOPLE why Asbille’s potential return is not off the table: “I would love to work with her”

New episodes of Marshals air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and stream the next day on Paramount+

Kelsey Asbille’s time in the Yellowstone universe might not actually be over.

Asbille played Monica, wife to Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and mom to Tate (Brecken Merrill), in all five seasons of Taylor Sheridan’s hit show, but the character was killed off in the premiere of Marshals, as it was revealed she had died after being diagnosed with cancer.

The twist left Grimes “heartbroken,” he told TV Insider at the time, but now, Marshals creator Spencer Hudnut is addressing the possibility of Monica’s return in the future. “I’m definitely open [to] that,” Hudnut tells PEOPLE at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where the cast of Marshalscelebrated the premiere of season 2 at the Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs game.

“I would love to work with her,” he says of Asbille, 35. “I don’t have any relationship with her, so I have no idea what her point of view would be on that.”

Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton and Kelsey Asbille as Monica Long in ‘Yellowstone’Credit: Kevin Lynch/Paramount Network

Still, Hudnut is interested in reuniting Monica with Kayce, though he acknowledges it would be tricky to pull off. “I think you have to be very careful about the timing of doing that.”

“The character of Monica will always be with Kayce. She’s, I think, guiding him still,” Hudnut says. “We’ve already made 33 episodes. We’ve got a lot of story to tell, so I think that would be interesting for people to see.”

Reflecting on the creative decision to kill off the character, Hudnut says, “The intensity of some of the fandom, I felt at the start. Certainly, when you take a character like Monica away, people are not afraid to share their feelings. And so I absorbed a lot from some of the fans at the start.”

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Merrill, who had played Asbille’s son since he was 9, was “so heartbroken” by the twist. “Kelsey was one of my favorite people to have on set,” he tells PEOPLE. “I was just sad that she couldn’t make it to Marshals. I was heartbroken.”

Speaking to the impact Monica’s death had on Tate and Kayce’s relationship, Merrill, 18, says, “That sort of split us apart, and throughout season one, we sort of rebuilt our relationship.” Season 2, he teases, is “another rebuild season” after the dramatic season 1 finale put Tate’s life at risk.

Kelsey Asbille as Monica Long, Brecken Merrill as Tate Dutton and Luke Grimes as Kacey Dutton in ‘Yellowstone’ season 5Credit: ©Paramount Global 2024

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When season 1 of Marshals premiered in March and Monica’s fate was revealed, Grimes revealed that he had called Asbille to tell her about the plot twist himself. “I worked up the courage to call. I didn’t know how she was going to feel about it,” he told TV Insider. “In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood. She’s going to do just fine.”

At the time, Hudnut said that the decision came from a desire to “shake up [Kayce’s life]” after he and Monica had “such a beautiful ending [in] Yellowstone.” While he “wanted to be very respectful” of Monica, he said they had to somehow get Kayce “off the ranch and into a new position” to tell a new story.

New episodes of Marshals air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and stream the next day on Paramount+.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”