‘Lioness’ Season 4 Preview – What Fans Can Expect + When

There’s good news and bad news about the future of Lioness. Then, there’s a theory that — if true — could become very good news.

Season 3 of Lioness ended on Sept. 20 with two very big cliffhangers. I’ve summarized below but the big takeaway is that the finale set up the plot for a fourth season of Taylor Sheridan’s American espionage show.

• Lioness premiered in late 2023. Season 2 aired in late 2024 and Season 3 began streaming in August 2026.
• Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman are the A-list stars of Lioness but many from the cast are well-known from previous roles.
• Taylor Sheridan has written all 24 episodes.

Season 5, 6 etc … don’t count on it for one disappointing reason. If the show returns there are likely to be cast changes as well, but I’ll get there.

Related: Lioness Season 3 Ending Solved the Show’s Biggest Problem

Lioness Season 3 Ending Explained

The end of Season 3 of Lioness revealed to viewers that all theories about who kidnapped Joe (Saldaña) are wrong. It wasn’t the Russians as first suspected. It wasn’t Iran, despite everyone seemingly agreeing that they would be that reckless.

It wasn’t Ukraine, which disproved the show’s most complicated theory and absolved double agent Oleksandra Balakin (too late).

Viewers know something the cast does not. The person orchestrating Joe’s kidnapping on Lioness was Aaliyah Amrohi, daughter to the terrorist financier the Lioness team killed way back in Season 1 (the one Cruz betrayed after a white hot affair).

The other important thing that happened was Joe’s husband Neal left her and took the kids. Also, there was a pretty gnarly gunfight in a cafe that killed an African emissary, in addition to two men at the center of the kidnapping. The emissary’s death was unintended and as a result America will need to make good with an African nation. I’m going to put a pin in this, for now.

Lauren Lo Smith/Paramount+

When Does Lioness Season 4 Begin?

Lioness Season 4 has not yet been confirmed. In fact Paramount+ hasn’t even hinted that it’s a given, and stars like Nicole Kidman are signaling for viewers to put a little pressure on executives to lock in.

Related: Lioness Aaliyah Actress Stephanie Nur Talks About Her Return

Ratings are strong, the writing is terrific and there’s plenty of room to create an exciting new adventure that lines up with real-life American politics. TL;DR: there is money to be made in bringing this show back so I’d bet a paycheck it happens before Sheridan leaves Paramount+ for Peacock in 2029.

This is important. He can’t write Lioness after that date, so the new season would need to be created prior to his departure. Two years is enough time to make it happen. That’s about the pace the show is on anyways.

Season 2 of Lioness wasn’t announced until eight months after the Season 1 finale and it debuted five months after that.

Season 3’s renewal wasn’t revealed until 10 months after the Season 2 finale, and it arrived 10 months after that. Don’t worry if we don’t hear about Season 4 until mid-2027. That’s still plenty of time to film, which is necessary because wrangling Kidman, Saldaña etc… has to be a chore. These are very busy actors.

Lioness Season 4 Cast Details

Lioness won’t work without Saldaña, and Kidman seems very eager to return. Secondary stars like Laysla De Oliveira (Cruz), James Jordan (Two Cups), LaMonica Garrett (Tucker) and Genesis Rodriguez (Josie) are pretty loyal to the show and Sheridan and aren’t big enough stars yet to drop it. So, assume they’re all in.

Morgan Freeman as Secretary of State Mullins and Michael Kelly as CIA Director Byron Westfield are question marks. Freeman is 89 years old, so health is always a worry. Kelly just signed on for a recurring role in Landman, so he’s got another gig.

From a plot perspective it may make sense to scrap both characters. Assume four actual years pass between Season 1 (2023) and Season 4 (2027). In the fictional world, a new president could have taken office and appointed new people to those positions. I’m just saying there is a way to freshen up the White House war room within the context of the show, if Sheridan / Paramount want to.

Ryan Green, Paramount+

Lioness Season 4, Key Plot Points

Season 3’s ending makes Season 4’s plot obvious. This should be the Aaliyah revenge season.

Expect another kidnapping attempt and the Lioness team to figure out who did it. If Aaliyah is coming back, there needs to be an epic Cruz confrontation as well. It’ll make for great television, especially if Cruz’s current love interest is nearby.

Yep, it’s all pretty clear except for one tiny truth about Lioness: Nothing is certain. Season 3 started out with Joe’s team abducting a Russian named Yurimov, an act that led them (and viewers) on a wild goose chase. This show pivots more than Allen Iverson, so even if Aaliyah is involved we can’t say for certain her role will be essential, or even that she’ll be the main villain.

A Lioness Spinoff – Why It Makes Sense

Credit Forbes and Paul Tassi for shining a light on a Lioness spin-off theory. The scene at the cafe led to Kyle’s (Thad Lucinbill) harsh rebuke and Westfield’s promise that he’ll be the one sent to Africa to clean up that mess.

If there’s a character who could carry a spin-off, it’s Kyle. He’s something of a lone wolf on the show but he’s become a likable stick of dynamite. He’s also the most recognizable of the secondary cast members, having played J.T. Hellstorm in the Young and the Restless for over two decades (nearly 1,000 episodes).

In theory, a spinoff is the only way the franchise could continue after Sheridan leaves Paramount. Right now, this is only a theory, so we won’t put too much stock into it, but it’s worth watching for clues that something else is cooking offstage.