Comedian, actor and queer icon Tig Notaro is developing a new film with director Zack Snyder, and the premise is already turning heads. During a recent appearance on the podcast On With Kara Swisher, Notaro revealed that she and Snyder are co-writing a movie that she describes, with complete sincerity, as “hot lesbian action.”
Notaro, who appeared in Snyder’s 2021 zombie-heist blockbuster Army of the Dead, said the project was born out of the unexpectedly thirsty response to her performance in that film. After replacing comedian Chris D’Elia and digitally being inserted into the movie, Notaro didn’t expect the internet to react the way it did.
“I go viral for being sexy in this film,” she said. “It was so unexpected. My phone’s exploding. I’m not walking around going, ‘Oh my God… check me out.’ I was so confused.”
Notaro said she reached out to Snyder to make sense of it. “I called Zack, and I said, ‘I’m hearing it from straight men, gay men, gay women and straight women that they think I’m hot in this movie.’” The reaction surprised both of them — but it also sparked inspiration.
According to Notaro, the idea for their next collaboration surfaced during a Zoom call. “‘What if we just went for it and everyone’s a hot lesbian?’” she remembers suggesting. “He was like, ‘Oh my God, yes, let’s make that movie.’”
The concept quickly escalated from joke to Hollywood project. Notaro said she pitched Snyder on a poster that simply features the title and the words “Hot Lesbian Action” — and he agreed immediately. “That’s how I sold him on the Zoom,” she said.
While the project is still in early development, Notaro shared a few details. “As of now, the movie is called Deviants, and takes place back in some old-timey days, like some closeted deviants,” she said. The film, she hinted, will blend historical setting with queer transgression, all filtered through her and Snyder’s shared sense of humor.
The pairing may seem unexpected, but Notaro and Snyder already proved their chemistry in Army of the Dead. Her performance as helicopter pilot Marianne Peters became one of the film’s most celebrated, and, unexpectedly, most thirsted-after — elements. The attention, Notaro acknowledged, came from every corner of the sexuality spectrum, which makes a queer-fronted action film feel like a natural next step.
Outside her work with Snyder, Notaro has a full slate. She voices a bear in Disney’s box office hit Zootopia 2 and is set to reprise her fan-favorite role as engineer Jett Reno in the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series. Her stand-up career, podcast appearances and acting projects continue to cement her as one of the most versatile queer comedic voices working today.
As for Deviants, Notaro made it clear the film is still taking shape, but the vision is bold, unapologetic and undeniably queer. Whether it becomes a swords-and-sapphics action romp, a historical gay romp or something entirely different, one thing is certain: Tig Notaro and Zack Snyder are aiming to make the kind of lesbian action movie Hollywood has truly never seen.
And honestly? It’s about time.
