Young Guns II Rides Off Into the Sunset

 December 14, 2025

   I'm going down to the Scottsdale Museum of the West this afternoon to introduce the last film in our Billy the Kid series which Andrew Patrick Nelson curated to coincide with our art show The Resurrection of Billy the Kid. Just for grins, last night Kathy and I rewatched Young Guns II to refresh my memory.

A Touching Scene From Young Guns II

Viggo Gets Inspiration as John Poe

   So, why did John Fusco embrace the Brushy Bill story for the sequel? Well, I contacted John and this is what he said:

"I didn’t expect Young Guns to open at #1 and engender a sequel. So suddenly I was faced with refrying the beans from the overcooked take on the Kid story. That’s when I went to the obscure footnote on Brushy Bill and felt it could be a unique and fascinating way in to the standard narrative. I wasn’t slumming or exploiting; I had always had a genuine interest in that mythology."

—John Fusco on his approach to a Young Guns sequel