Shogun garnered incredible success for FX, and many fans want more from the samurai show.
Shogun is the second TV adaptation of James Clavell’s acclaimed 1975 novel about an Englishman’s adventures in Japan at the start of the 17th century — and it’s one of the best TV shows of 2024.
Loosely based on a true story, the hero is nevertheless the fictional John Blackthorne, known to some as the heretic, and others as the Anjin, which translates as ‘navigator’.
The 10 episode run of the first season saw Blackthrone become involved in a civil war, and very nearly lose his head multiple times. You can find out how his story played out in our ending explainer, while details of whether this particular tale continues can be found below. Just beware of SPOILERS AHEAD…
Is Shogun Season 2 happening?
Yes, Shogun Season 2 has been given the greenlight by FX.
On May 16, 2024, it was announced the show would get a second series, and a third season was also in the works, too. It is not known at this stage when exactly the show will return.
However, we do know that things are well and truly in development. Speaking at the 2024 Emmy Awards, co-creator and showrunner Justin Marks said [via Variety]: “We’re in the writers’ room…We’re like 47 days in right now. We’ve got three outlines that we’re really excited about; we’re about to add the fourth. Scripts will come soon.”
It’s no surprise that more Shogun is on the way. The show won big at the Emmy Awards, breaking the record for the number of wins by any show in a single season.
It also marks the first time a non-English speaking show has won the Best Drama Series award, and stars Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada are the first Japanese actors to ever win Emmys. Overall, the show won 18 Emmys during its first season.
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Who could be in the Shogun Season 2 cast?
The only person currently lined up for Season 2 is Hiroyuki Sanada.
Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Lord Toranaga in the first season, has reportedly “inked a deal” to reprise his role once more.
Little is known about other actors, but Cosmo Jarvis is the most likely to return as John Blackthorne.
What would Shogun Season 2 be about?
It’s unclear exactly what shape a second season would take. The show already reached the end of Clavell’s novel, and while there are other books in his Asian Saga, their timeline placements don’t align with Shogun.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in March, co-showrunner Justin Marks said of the show: “We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence. 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.”
Marks added that if second season were to happen, it would already be up-and-running, stating Shogun is not like a “normal TV series, where if we were in a situation like this promoting it, we wouldn’t just be in the writers room already, we’d be on set shooting Season 2 by now.”
James Clavell actually wrote many more books, set before and after the events of Shogun, any one of which could be adapted into a series. Even though major characters like Lady Mariko and Kashigi Yabushige didn’t survive this season, the twin leads of John Blackthorne and Lord Toranga very much did, so their story could continue.
All 10 episodes of Shogun are available on the Disney+ streaming service right now. If you’re done with that, you can check out other great TV shows streaming shows this month. We’ve even recommended five movies like Shogun that you could watch next.
