With The Bear, Fargo and Reservation Dogs all having their own respective moments, FX is slowly becoming the home of Post-Peak TV. That was only emphasized with the debut of Shōgun earlier this year, and now the network has been nominated for a whopping 93 Emmys, making it a worthy competitor for HBO and Netflix. And it’s partially because of… well, this.
A second season of Shōgun is already in the works, despite the fact that it was initially supposed to be a limited series. The show is based on the 1975 novel of the same name, which follows the English ship captain John Blackthorne as he becomes marooned in Japan in the midst of political turmoil, which stirs up even more tension. A second season was quickly green lit after, though the plot will depart from the original text.
“We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence,” husband and wife duo/prducers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in March. “We love how the book ends; it was one of the reasons why we both knew we wanted to do it — and we ended in exactly that place.”
While there are five other books in the saga, season two will bring the story somewhere else. “We don’t have the novel,” producer and star Hiroyuki Sanada revealed to Variety. “Freedom is there…I hope our writers will enjoy the freedom and respect the novel of course.” Even without a source text, the season will surely be a worthwhile adventure for fans of the series. Here is everything to know so far about season two of Shōgun.
Plot
Even without a book to adapt, Sanada (who is set to reprise his role of Lord Yoshii Toranaga in season two) says that there is no shortage of events to draw inspiration from. “There are so many famous episodes in Japan. Toranaga’s strategies are like a chess game. It’s not only about fighting. Human drama is important,” he said. Season one is set at the end of the tumultuous Sengoku period, which in turn leads to the Edo period.
The second season promised to bring in new characters, in addition to some familiar faces, that will lead into another (!!) season. “There will be new characters coming in, and we’re going to basically follow the real history in seasons two and three. Before the peaceful era came, there were a lot of dramatic moments,” Sanada said.
Cast
Sanada cryptically revealed that half the existing cast will be back, and “the other half will be new characters coming in.” Sanada will definitely be returning as Toranaga, though none of the other cast has confirmed to return at this time.
Sanada previously told USA Today, “Blackthorne is useful to Toranaga, who wants to keep him in Japan and not let him go back to England,” which could signify the return of Cosmo Jarvis.
Release Date
The writers are hard at work on season two, which is still in the early stages. Sanada revealed, “We have a writers room, and they’re working every day. Hopefully sometime next year, we can start shooting.” Filming for season one took about nine months from 2021-2022, so there we are still quite a ways away from a premiere. Assuming they use a similar schedule, season two likely won’t premiere until late 2025 or early 2026.
“It’s a long production period.” FX CEO John Landgraf told Variety in July. “I think between principal and second unit days of photography, that show shot between 180 and 190 days or more, could have been close to 200.”
Trailer
While there is no trailer or footage, the entire first season is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+ so you can get a feel for where the series is headed next. Check out the first season trailer below:
