Why Wyatt Earp Returns to Being a Lawman in Tombstone Despite Turning Down Half of the Film

Kurt Russell's Wyatt Earp Begins 1993 Adventure Tombstone trying to establish himself after a career as a lawman, but soon puts the badge back alongside his brothers. The iconic Western picks up Wyatt Earp after he has retired from his career as a lawman in Dodge City, Kansas, just as he and his brothers Morgan and Virgil plan to go into the silver business together in the town of Tombstone, Arizona. All three men have their wives in tow and intend to establish themselves as businessmen, abandoning the guns and badges of the law.

Unfortunately for Earp, his plan to maintain a peaceful existence was short-lived and the action quickly began. Interestingly, several scenes in Tombstone makes a special effort to emphasize how insistent Earp is on not returning to the right side of the law, and includes Earp's outright refusal on several occasions. While he, of course, picks up the gun again, it's not explicitly clear what made him change his mind in the film. For Earp, a snowball effect occurs that makes his return to the law inevitable.

Wyatt Earp Realizes The Cowboys Threat Cannot Be Ignored

The Cowboys crime syndicate threatened the entire West

The main antagonists of Tombstone They are the Cowboys, a veritable army of thugs and outlaws who act as the supreme law in Tombstone, marked by the red sashes they wear. The Cowboys in the film are based on the Cochise County Cowboysa similarly structured group that became one of, if not the first, true criminal organizations in America. They are led by Curly Bill Brocius (played by Powers Boothe) and Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn), and are portrayed as cowardly and cruel in Tombstone. Therein lies its importance to the story of Wyatt Earp in the film.

Wyatt is forced to return to the law to combat the Cowboy threat in Tombstone. As an outlaw gang preoccupied with robbery and murder, the Cowboys come into conflict with any man concerned with justice. This eventually brings them into conflict with the Earps, especially when Wyatt arrests Curly Bill and Virgil becomes Tombstone's new marshal in an effort to control the chaos wrought by the Cowboys. All of the Earps understand the threat posed by the Cowboys to everyone in Tombstoneand they know that they will not leave without someone facing them without fear.

Wyatt can't help but side with his two brothers in Tombstone

Wyatt agreed to Virgil and Morgan's compromise

Virgil is the driving force behind the Earps' involvement with the Cowboys in Tombstoneas he is the first of the brothers to declare that he does not support the gang's illegality, especially if they intend to start a life in the city of Tombstone. Morgan accompanies Virgil and even becomes his deputy when he takes on the mantle of marshal. As the youngest of the brothers, Morgan explains his actions to Wyatt as the path he thought Wyatt himself would follow, acting on the side of righteousness.

After Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the other Earp brothers come into conflict with Ike Clanton and the McLaury brothers, the decision is largely out of Wyatt's hands. As Morgan notes, when men are brothers, their duty is to support each othereven if they don't agree with his actions. This leads Wyatt to reluctantly agree to be nominated and made a lawman under his brother's leadership, feeling as though he has little choice.

Tombstone Suggests Wyatt Returning to Being a Lawman Was Inevitable

Despite wanting to settle down, he would always fall on the side of justice

Wyatt's reputation as a peace officer in Dodge City follows him west to Tombstone.and as a result, several influential people in the town invite him to take the full-time position in Tombstone, as they believe he is the kind of man needed to stop the Cowboys from terrorizing the area. Wyatt repeatedly says no to every proposal, even vehemently denying it to his brothers the first time they broached the subject with him. Tombstone makes it clear that Wyatt's honest intention is to settle down and leave the life of a shooter and officer behind.

Wyatt's continued pestering to face the Cowboys points to the inevitability of his return to the law. The fact that he has to keep saying that a lawman's life was behind him for the entire first half of Tombstone it is both a foreshadowing and evidence that his fate is inevitable. Wyatt Earp would always be on the side of the lawwhether it was something he wanted or not.