This ‘Yellowstone’ Star Joining The Cast Of ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Probably Means He Won’t Pop Up In Any Spinoffs

Good new and potentially bad news for Yellowstone fans.

Fans of Special Ops: Lioness breathed a sigh of relief back in October when the show was finally renewed for a third season.  There was some concern that the show wouldn’t go on after lengthy delays in production and silence in the updates department. It had been quite some time since we had seen or heard anything about the Saldaña and Kidman-led show.

The second season aired its final episode in December of 2024, and Taylor Sheridan usually likes to keep his projects on a consistent release schedule (Sheridan’s loyal following appreciates new seasons every year). For reference, there was only about a 12 month gap between Lioness’ Season 1 finale and Season 2 premiere. It was over 10 months after Season 2 wrapped that the official word of a Season 3 order was shared.

Though a longer wait in between seasons, the silver lining is that the special operations and intelligence series – starring Saldaña, Kidman, Laysla De Oliveira, Morgan Freeman and Dave Annable – is set to return. As to why the third season renewal news took so long to become public, Deadline originally reported that Special Ops: Lioness and its stars were originally picked up for a three-season acting deal, but Kidman had only signed on to do two. Kidman’s deal for Season 3 had to be worked out, and the show had to find time in the busy schedules of its stars to shoot the show. Both of those factors played into the uncharacteristic delay.

If you’ve never watched the show and you are just here because I mentioned Yellowstone, Special Ops: Lioness centers around a CIA operative named Joe (Zoe Saldana) who tries to balance work and personal life while on the frontlines of her agency’s war on terror. Kidman plays a character named Kaitlyn Meade, who is a long-tenured CIA Senior Supervisor. Like Mayor of Kingstown, it’s one of Sheridan’s most underrated series that’s currently airing, and if I did my math right, it appears that the next season of Lioness will air sometime in 2026.

So why did I say good news and bad news for Yellowstone fans just a bit ago?

Well, another actor has been added to the already star-studded cast of Lioness: Ian Bohen. You might recognize the name, since he has already had a starring role in the Taylor Sheridan universe. He played Ryan in Yellowstone, and shared a lot of screen time with Luke Grimes’ Kayce Dutton. In this new endeavor of his, Bohen is set to play a character named Grady, who Variety described as a “by-the-book Delta Force operator and primary K9 handler, skilled in battlefield tactics.”

Bohen shared this photo of he and Lioness co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Laysla De Oliveira on January 1:

“No need to look back I’ll check your six, we’re running straight forward into 2026.”

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The potential bad news is that Bohen’s involvement in Special Ops: Lioness could keep him from appearing in any of the Yellowstone spinoffs… at least for now.

It would have probably made the most sense for Bohen’s cowboy character to pop up in Y: Marshals, but he could have also been included in the upcoming Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler spinoff: The Dutton Ranch. Being involved with Lioness might keep him from doing so.

That being said, Bohen could always pull double duty and manage to make appearances in more than one show. And the silver lining of it all is that we get to see Ian Bohen back on our television screens in some form or fashion, and still underneath the Taylor Sheridan umbrella.

Plus, it’s no secret that the Yellowstone creator likes to collaborate with the same actors and actresses across his many shows. Lioness already has a former Yellowstone cast member in Dave Annable (who played Lee) in the show, among a couple of others that have also starred in other Sheridan productions.

At the very least, a cameo from Bohen in a Yellowstone spinoff is not out of the question… but we do know for sure that he’ll be featured in a more prominent role in Special Ops: Lioness.The post This ‘Yellowstone’ Star Joining The Cast Of ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Probably Means He Won’t Pop Up In Any Spinoffs first appeared on Whiskey Riff.