Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan may be the busiest man in television. In addition to numerous Yellowstone prequels for Paramount+, he also writes and produces Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King. Later this month, Sheridan is adding yet another series to his Paramount+ lineup: Special Ops: Lioness. Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Zoe Saldaña headlines the series as Joe, the woman who is in charge of the CIA’s lioness program. It’s her job to recruit female operatives and embed them with dangerous terrorists. And in the newest trailer, Joe lays out the risks involved to her latest recruit, Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira).
Cruz is a Marine, but to hear Joe tell it, she was taken from nothing and built up to be an asset for Uncle Sam who could go behind enemy lines in a way that no male operative could. However, Cruz’s cover is so deep that there can be no easy extraction if her identity is exposed. And since the vast majority of U.S. operatives have no idea that Cruz is on their side, she may end up as collateral damage in the war on terror.
Sheridan has had a lot of success lining up movie stars for his series before, but the cast list for this show is just ridiculously stacked. You won’t find many series where Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman play second fiddle to anyone, but they are supporting cast members here alongside established performers like Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, and Jonah Wharton.
Hannah Love Lanier also stars in the series in addition to Michael Kelly, Ray Corasani, Sam Asghari, Carla Mansour, Adam Budron as Sami, and Martin Donovan as Errol Meade.
The first two episodes of Special Ops: Lioness will premiere on Sunday, July 23, only on Paramount+.
