Paramount+ has renewed Lioness for a second season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Taylor Sheridan action drama stars Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman. Morgan Freeman, who appeared in two episodes of the first season, has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming second season two.

The Return of The Lioness

Morgan Freeman, Zoe Saldaña, Taylor Sheridan, Special Ops: Lioness, Paramount+

Paramount+ executive VP programming Jeff Grossman said, “Our Paramount+ audience resoundingly has joined forces in support of Lioness' gripping, global story and the powerhouse performances from Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira and Nicole Kidman. We cannot wait to see more of the heart-stopping suspense and action that Taylor Sheridan and the incredibly talented team deliver in its second season.”

Formerly called Special Ops: Lioness, the show's first season set a record for the most-watched global series premiere on its first day of release on Paramount+. The series garnered 6 million total viewers during its first week, already factoring worldwide and linear viewership according to samples from the Paramount Network.

The Real ‘Team Lioness'

The show is inspired by a real US military program and follows the life of Joe (Saldaña) as she tries to balance her personal and professional life CIA officer in charge of the Lioness program.

Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy said, “Lioness captivated audience around the world as one of the most-watched global series premieres on Paramount+ last year. Driven by Taylor Sheridan's masterful storytelling and Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña's remarkable performances, season two promises to immerse audiences in yet another riveting, adrenaline-fueled journey.”

Saldaña, Kidman, Freeman and De Oliveira are joined by Michael Kelly, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Jonah Wharton and Hannah Love Lanier. Sheridan also serves as an executive producer long with Saldaña and Kidman.

Lioness is one of Sheridan's slate of Paramount+ scripted originals, including Yellowstone, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown and Landman, all currently in production. His other shows on the streaming platform and network are the Yellowstone spinoffs 1923, 1883 and Lawmen: Bass Reeves. The writer and producer has a nine-figure overall deal with Paramount.

Women in combat

The US military program on which the show is very loosely inspired from is the so-called Team Lioness. In 2003, the US government decided to send female soldiers to patrol. Since male soldiers found it difficult to search Muslim women, the “Lionesses” did it instead to stop insurgent from using women to smuggle contraband.

Team Lioness were often found in direct combat situations, which violated the Combat Exclusion policy — until it was changed in 2013 — and prevented the soldiers from acquiring veteran benefits when they leave the service.

In 2008, Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers released the documentary Lioness. It told the story of a group of Army servicewomen who were sent to Iraq in non-combat positions but ended up fighting with the Marines.
The feature-length documentary reportedly played an important rule in influencing both legislation and policy discussions in Congress, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Affairs to improve the care of the women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Women Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act to increase the availability of gender-specific services for women. In 2015, the Compensation Owed for Mental Health Based on Activities in Theater Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Act expanded the definition of the word combat so it would be easier for all veterans to qualify combat-related disability benefits.