'The Abandons': Kurt Sutter's Netflix Western Series Sets December 2025 Release Premiere With New First Looks

Hoping to compete with Yellowstone, 1883, and pick up the mantle from Longmire, Netflix is teaming up with Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter for a new Western series called The Abandons. The series will be set in the 1850s US, the Wild West. After numerous delays, the series finally got into production in May 2024, but it wasn’t without issue, as we’ll come to. The series has finally confirmed a December 2025 release date with new first looks. Here’s everything we know.

First announced in November 2021, The Abandons will have Kurt Sutter as its showrunner and executive producer. He spoke about the series a year ago, then:

“I’ve always wanted to do a western, even before Sons, and then Deadwood came out, There’s that great lore of Ian Anderson wanting to be a great rock guitarist, and he saw Clapton play, and he said, ‘F*ck, I’m going to become the best rock flautist that ever lived.’ And he did just that for Jethro Tull. This is how I felt when I saw Deadwood. I said, ‘Let me stick to the crime genre” and then used just about every actor that was on that show. But I do love the genre, and over the pandemic, I tried to get a western IP.”

Picture: Getty Images

It marks Sutter’s second project at Netflix, as he also has a feature film, This Beast, about a trapper’s battle with an elusive beast ravaging an 18th-century English village. The series will be produced by Sutter’s company, SutterInk.

This fits in a booming and under-tapped genre, particularly on Netflix. The Taylor Sheridan universe is one of the most prized possessions of Paramounts current lineup, and Longmire (a Netflix show) is regularly seen in the Nielsen Top 10s.

Otto Bathurst and Stephen Surjik are among the directors set to helm the series. Aske Foss will serve as the cinematographer on the new series.

Here’s everything else we know about The Abandons:

What’s the plot of The Abandons?

Here’s the plot synopsis for Netflix’s The Abandons:

The Abandons follows a group of diverse, outlier families pursuing their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon when a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out.

These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, “justice” is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. The Abandons will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.

Kurt Sutter spoke about his fascination with the subject:

“I’ve always been fascinated with the origins of La Cosa Nostra, how these Sicilian peasant families were being more than marginalized by the land barons and the aristocrats, These families banded together to defend themselves from these abusive land barons, and from that taking those matters into their own hands, La Cosa Nostra was born and became the authority and the law and the order of the land.

That was an actual term of the period where it was this kind of catchall phrase that described the outliers, the orphans, the prostitutes, the cripples, the bastards — basically the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society. That is my favorite neighborhood. We are on the Western Frontier, somewhere between the Dakotas and California, small cattle town, circa 1850. So, it’s post-Gold Rush, pre-Civil War, and then, some natural resource is discovered.”

Sutter then detailed what the first season will be about:

“That whole first season will be about the evolution of them as, you know, turning into outlaws, in a period before all the iconic outlaws that we know, like Jesse James and Billy the Kid. All those cats didn’t happen until after the Civil War, but the Pinkertons were around, so you know there were outlaws. So, it’s sort of like the precursor to the James Gang and other sort of iconic outlaws that we associate with the Wild West. So we might wink at history, say in Season 2 or 3 crossing paths with an 11-year-old Billy the Kid, and yet still be able to play in the fictional world, to me, is cool. And it helps me avoid the gunfights in the street and experience the Western while I get to lean away from some of the expected tropes.”

On October 1st, Netflix released first looks for the series alongside its release date, with executive producer Chris Keyser saying in a statement:

“This first chapter of The Abandons is a classic American story – the frontier, two families – both at war and in love with each other, a battle over who owns the land and who makes the rules. So, smack in the middle of murder and revenge and a bit of illicit romance, we also get to explore all of these questions we never seem to get away from: What makes a family? How do you stay good in a bad world? And, would you change who you are and what you believe in to protect what you love? But, in this case, we do it all through the eyes of Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson, as two widowed matriarchs battling to survive. And that, as they say, is really something to watch.”

Who is cast in The Abandons?

Lena Headey (Game of Thrones, Masters of the Universe: Revelation) was the first confirmed cast member.

Headey will play Fiona Nolan, a “strong, devout matriarch who, unable to have her own children, took in four orphans to create her own family. Driven by a higher purpose—and a strong-willed Irish temper—her faith and love for her family trump all.”

Lena Headey – Picture courtesy of Netflix

Gillian Anderson, who has starred in multiple Netflix projects, such as The Crown, Sex Education, and Scoop, will play Constance Van Ness. Her character description states she’s “fit and measured,” adding, “Van Ness inherited her husband’s mining fortune, then doubled it. Despite the bias against women, her money, charm, and ruthlessness created a network of political allies. For her, power, wealth, and lineage trumps all.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 18: Gillian Anderson presents the Supporting Actor Award on stage during the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2024 at The Royal Festival Hall on February 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

The remaining series regulars are Natalia Del Riego (NCIS: Los Angeles) as Lilla Belle, Aisling Franciosi (The Fall) as Trisha Van Ness, Lamar Johnson (The Last of Us) as Albert Mason, Nick Robinson (Jurassic World) as Elias Teller, Diana Silvers (Booksmart) as Dahlia Teller, and Lucas Till (X-Men: Apocalypse) as Garrett Van Ness.

The Abandons Netflix Recurring Cast Members

From top left to bottom right: Natalia Del Riego, Aisling Franciosi, Lamar Johnson, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lucas Till

Confirmed cast members for having a recurring role in the series are Clayton Cardenas (Mayans M.C.), Jack Doolan (Sisu), Michael Greyeys (Wild Indians), Toby Hemingway (The Covenant), Michael Huisman (Game of Thrones), Ryan Hurst (The Walking Dead), Jonathan Koensgen (FUBAR), Marc Menchaca (Ozark), Brían F. O’Byrne (Million Dollar Baby), Michael Marisi Ornstein (Sons of Anarchy), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), Haig Sutherland (The Flash), Elle-Maija Tailfeathers (Night Raiders), Katelyn Wells (Ginny & Georgia), and Sarah Grace White (Grey’s Anatomy).

What’s the production status of The Abandons?

Filming was previously scheduled to run from August 14, 2023, to January 15, 2024. However, thanks to the ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike, production was officially delayed.

We’ve since learned that The Abandons will begin filming on May 14th, 2024. Filming will last approximately five months and is scheduled to conclude on October 18, 2024. Filming is confirmed to be taking place in Oregon, United States, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

On May 14th, 2024, Kurt Sutter on Instagram confirmed that filming was underway on the new series, saying:

“The Abandons. Day 1. After maneuvering our own Oregon Trail — Labor disputes, scheduling, weather, etc. — cameras finally begin rolling. We have assembled an amazing cast and crew. I am in tremendous gratitude. No matter what happens with the show, I am already a better artist as a result of it. Thank you.”

Kurt Sutter would eventually depart the series. As exclusively detailed by Deadline in October 2024, just three weeks ahead of filming coming to an end, they detailed that Sutter departed over reported creative differences regarding the show’s direction. Executive producer Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins will oversee the final stretch of filming and planned reshoots, with no new showrunner appointed.

They wrote that tensions reportedly arose after the first episode, originally running 1 hour and 40 minutes, proved too dense to cut down, prompting Netflix to split it into two episodes. The new edits, along with early cuts of Episode 3, were reportedly lacking in pacing and cohesion, prompting Netflix to intervene. Their sources also mention friction between Sutter and top cast members over storylines and collaboration. The production, starring Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson, has also faced budget challenges, trimming its initial 10-episode order to 7 episodes, which have now been expanded again to 8 episodes after the premiere split.