First Trailer for ‘Special Ops: Lioness’

The new spy series from ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan also stars Michael Kelly and Laysla De Oliveira in the story of an undercover operation that goes wrong.

Writer/director/showrunner Taylor Sheridan has quietly (and not-so-quietly, depending on where you live and how aware of his work you are) been building a small screen empire with his ‘Yellowstone’ shows, which have spun off two prequels (‘1923’ and 1883’, with more on the way).

Those in turn have led to the commissioning of other series, including Sylvester Stallone-starring ‘Tulsa King’, Jeremy Renner-led ‘Mayor of Kingstown’, the upcoming ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’, which features Dennis Quaid and David Oyelowo and ‘Land Men’, boasting Billy Bob Thornton heading its cast.

Sheridan’s work has, as the lists above suggest, attracted plenty of top talent, but the needle of the Big-Name-O-Meter hit even further with the announcement of another new show (seriously, when the does this man see his family?), ‘Special Ops: Lioness’, which has dropped its first trailer and you can watch t above.

Zoe Saldana as Joe in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Lynsey Addario/Paramount+.

All about ‘Special Ops: Lioness’

The new show, inspired by an actual US Military program, follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror.

The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism in the CIA's efforts to thwart the next 9/11.

It’s all very much in the wheelhouse of movies that Sheridan has written in the past, especially ‘Sicario’, which saw Emily Blunt as an idealistic FBI agent enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Except ‘Lioness’ goes further into espionage territory, with plenty of meetings in darkened command centers, lots of action with guns blazing and undercover operatives under threat and comments about carrying out missions “in front of CBS news”, which makes sense, since the series from this first look comes across as something that would probably play well (if in much more limited/lower budget fashion) on Paramount+’s network sibling CBS.

James Jordan as Two Cups, Jonah Wharton as Tex, Jill Wagner as Bobby, Zoe Saldana as Joe, Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade, Austin Hébert as Randy and Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023.

(L to R) James Jordan as Two Cups, Jonah Wharton as Tex, Jill Wagner as Bobby, Zoe Saldana as Joe, Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade, Austin Hébert as Randy and Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo credit: Greg Lewis/Paramount+.

Who else is in ‘Special Ops: Lioness’?

In addition to the already impressive roster, ‘Lioness’ also features Morgan Freeman, playing Edwin Mullins. He’s the Secretary of State in the series and has some tough questions for the CIA program’s creators and agents.

And the cast includes Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Jonah Wharton, Stephanie Nur and Hannah Love Lanier.

‘Special Ops: Lioness’ will launch on Paramount+ on Sunday, July 23. Will it catch on the way ‘Yellowstone’ has and spawn 17 spin-offs all overseen by Sheridan (who will presumably have perfected cloning technology by then so he can handle the workload)? Only time will tell…

Jill Wagner as Bobby, Thad Luckinbill as Kyle, Zoe Saldana as Joe, James Jordan as Two Cups, Jonah Wharton as Tex, Austin Hébert as Randy in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023.

(L to R) Jill Wagner as Bobby, Thad Luckinbill as Kyle, Zoe Saldana as Joe, James Jordan as Two Cups, Jonah Wharton as Tex, Austin Hébert as Randy in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo credit: Greg Lewis/Paramount+.

(L to R) Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade, Michael Kelly as Bryon Westfield and Zoe Saldana as Joe in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Luke Varley/Paramount+.

Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, Zoe Saldana as Joe, and Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023.

(L to R) Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, Zoe Saldana as Joe, and Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Luke Varley/Paramount+.

(L to R) Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah and Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos in 'Special Ops: Lioness' streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Luke Varley/Paramount+.