Spoilers for Shogun Season 1 ahead.
Since the gripping conclusion of FX’s hit limited series Shogun, question about a potential second season has lasted—and now becomes more intense—with a new report that star and producer Hiroyuki Sanada signed on to reprise his role as Lord Yoshii Toranaga.
According to Deadline, Sanada has agreed to return to the show, in which his character fights to become a military dictator in 17th-century Japan. But sources say “other elements are still being worked out.” settlement and agreements are being finalized” in an effort to buy time. Shogun, intended to last only a single season. Making such a move would create an intriguing obstacle to this year’s achievement. Emmy racewith the show having the ability to compete as a television series rather than a limited series. Vanity fair FX representatives have been contacted for comment.
Adapted from co-author James Clavell’s 1975 novel Justin Marks And Rachel Kondo, Shogun has been a smash hit since its release in February. “Ultimately, the audience will decide if it’s what they want,” FX CEO John Landgraf said before Hollywood Reporter, adding that the sequel would have to be “big and detailed and really deep into character and the human condition.” For it critical acclaim And commercial popularity—the series beat the second part of Bear is the most-watched Hulu premiere ever—it’s clear that interest in this show is high.
Ahead, see everything we know—and don’t know—about the potential second season of Shogun.
Who will return in part 2 of Shogun?
So far, only Sanada’s name has been mentioned in reports about the possibility of the series returning. Former actor speak Vanity fair“The events of the novel end with [finale], episode 10. If they want to do something more, it will be completely original. Who knows? Model Shogun makes it easy for us to see what happened in real life and from there we can create an origin story. Who knows? We have history.”
While Sanada leaves open the possibility of revenge, the future of other characters is less clear, including Cosmo Jarvisby Jack Blackthorne. He’s told it before VF about how difficult it was to leave this role behind at the end of filming for season one. “Blackthorne absolutely preoccupied and fascinated me for a long time,” he said. “When it came to the final shot, it was terrifying, because only then did I think Blackthorne had to be left behind and all these adventures had to be left behind. And it’s a little sad, you know? I suppose in a way it’s a relief, but at the same time, you’re just another unemployed actor and you don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
At least some beloved characters won’t be returning, as long as the second season is linear. Tadanobu Asanoof Yabushige, who was sentenced by Lord Toranaga to commit seppuku, a noble form of suicide, in the finale. In the penultimate episode of the season, that is Anna SawaiLady Mariko who met her death in a similar act of sacrifice.
What will part 2 have? Shogun about?
Signs have been confirmed early that the first season of Shogun will conclude “exactly where the book ends” and that he and Kondo “tell the entire story of the book” within its 10 episodes. But Clavell wrote six books in Asian Sagainclude Shogun, the third novel in his series. Each installment in the nonlinear series explores Europeans in Asia, each focusing on a different time period and place, ranging from Hong Kong to Iran.
If the creators were only thinking chronologically, the next chapter of Shogun will Tai Pan, the second novel in Clavell’s series, set in 1841 Hong Kong at the end of the Opium Wars. Sanada’s potential involvement certainly suggests that his character will still appear in at least one iteration — even if the rest of the story takes on more of an anthology feel.
When Shogun Season 2 released?
Given that the renewal at this time is purely speculative, there’s no firm release date to share. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter Last month, Marks noted the show’s “long post-production,” which could lengthen the wait before the next season. “It’s not like a regular drama, if we were in a situation like this to promote it, we wouldn’t be in the writers’ room,” he explained. “Now we are ready to shoot part two.”
This post will be updated.
