Thad Luckinbill is stepping into the spotlight in a major way on Lioness Season 3, and the actor-producer is warning fans that absolutely nobody may be safe by the time Taylor Sheridan’s explosive military thriller reaches its finale.

Luckinbill’s Kyle has become one of the most prominent figures in the third season following the shocking abduction of Zoe Saldaña’s Joe. With the CIA operative suddenly missing, Kyle has been forced to take a much more active role in running the Lioness team, putting him directly in the middle of an increasingly dangerous international operation.

And judging by Luckinbill’s latest comments, viewers should expect the stakes to become even higher before the season comes to an end.

Kyle has already demonstrated that he is willing to cross lines that others might hesitate to approach. In the episode “Murder Hornets,” he threatens a captured Russian operative in an attempt to discover what happened to Joe. Even after extracting the information he needs, Kyle orders the men killed and coldly dismisses responsibility for the aftermath.

“It’s their f—ing mess; let them clean it up,” he says.

The moment is only one example of how dramatically Kyle’s role has changed. Earlier in the season, he also threatened the family of Ukrainian operative Oleksandra during a brutal interrogation, making it clear that finding Joe is more important to him than maintaining conventional boundaries.

When Bobby later reports Kyle’s actions to Kaitlyn, he refuses to apologize. Instead, he argues that the stakes are too high for restraint.

“Yeah, I treated this like war — it is f—ing war,” Kyle declares.

For Luckinbill, the character’s increasingly important role has been something of a surprise. When he first joined Lioness, Kyle was introduced as a recurring supporting character, and the actor did not expect the part to grow into one of the show’s key relationships.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’ll take it,” Luckinbill joked.

After more than two decades in Hollywood, the opportunity has given Luckinbill the chance to return to acting in a major way. He has spent much of the past decade concentrating on producing, but Lioness was an opportunity he could not turn down, particularly because of his long-standing relationship with Sheridan.

Luckinbill and his brother Trent produced Sicario, Sheridan’s screenwriting debut, which eventually became an Oscar-nominated thriller. Luckinbill remembers immediately recognizing something special in Sheridan’s writing when he first read the screenplay.

He recalled starting the script at around 10 p.m. and becoming so absorbed by its intensity that he eventually had to stop reading because he knew he would not be able to sleep. The next morning, he immediately finished it.

That early relationship continued when Sheridan later worked on another project Luckinbill produced, 12 Strong. Sheridan also appeared in the film in a small role, delivering a lengthy monologue alongside major stars including Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and Michael Peña.

Luckinbill said watching Sheridan perform the speech reinforced his belief that the future Yellowstone creator had a rare ability to command a scene.

Years later, the pair have reunited on Lioness, although Luckinbill believes Kyle was never originally intended to become such an important part of the series.

“There had been a couple other projects over the years where Taylor had considered me for, but this one — pardon the pun — I think he tailor-made this one for me,” he explained.

The relationship between Kyle and Joe has become one of the show’s most entertaining dynamics, with the two characters frequently behaving less like traditional colleagues and more like competitive siblings who happen to work in one of the world’s most dangerous professions.

According to Luckinbill, he and Saldaña discussed their characters’ history when they first began working together. Because Kyle and Joe are both senior figures who have operated in similar circles for years, they imagined that the pair had accumulated a long history of helping, frustrating and challenging one another.

Their bond was also evident in a much-discussed moment from the third season, when Joe insults Kyle and instead of responding angrily, simply smiles after she flips him off.

Luckinbill revealed that Saldaña’s gesture was actually an improvised change from the original script.

“She always tells me, ‘F— you, Kyle,’” he said, explaining that the scripted line was different. Saldaña instead chose to flip him off, and Luckinbill’s reaction was genuine.

That chemistry has helped make Kyle and Joe one of the most popular relationships in the series, even though their partnership is built around arguments, rivalry and mutual distrust.

With Joe currently missing, Kyle is also spending more time working with Nicole Kidman’s Kaitlyn. Luckinbill says that relationship has evolved this season as well. Previously, Kaitlyn was often the person who reprimanded Kyle after he made mistakes. Now, however, the balance has shifted because she needs him to help recover Joe.

The actor also admitted that working in the show’s situation-room scenes can be intimidating. Kyle regularly finds himself surrounded by some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Kidman, Saldaña, Morgan Freeman and Michael Kelly.

The scenes are often packed with technical dialogue and lengthy speeches, making them particularly challenging to memorize. Yet Luckinbill says the atmosphere between takes is much lighter, with the cast joking around and enjoying themselves.

Still, he described sharing scenes with Freeman, Kidman and Saldaña as something of a “pinch-yourself” experience after spending 25 years in the entertainment business.

For all of Kyle’s newfound prominence, however, Luckinbill is not revealing exactly where his character will end up. What he will say is that the remaining episodes are going to become increasingly chaotic as the team races to locate Joe.

“The mission is to get Joe back,” he said. “That’s the centerpiece of what’s happening so far and what continues to happen.”

The actor promised that the conclusion will be particularly shocking, saying he believes fans will “flip out” when they discover how the story ends.

That warning becomes even more significant because Luckinbill refuses to rule out the possibility that Joe could die.

While many viewers might assume that Saldaña’s Oscar-winning status makes her character untouchable, Sheridan has repeatedly demonstrated that his shows are willing to make brutal choices. Luckinbill confirmed that the danger is very real.

“Anybody could go, up and down the cast,” he said.

That could make the final stretch of Season 3 particularly unpredictable. Lioness has always operated on the idea that its characters are disposable when missions go wrong, but Joe’s abduction has pushed that philosophy to another level.

With Kyle now leading the recovery effort, Kaitlyn tightening the pressure and enemies closing in, the team is heading toward what could be its most dangerous operation yet.

And if Luckinbill’s warning is anything to go by, viewers should not assume that every familiar face will survive the mission.