After a nail-biting finale that brought the first season of Shōgun to a dramatic close, fans have already turned their attention to the future with questions of a potential second season.
The ten-episode limited series is based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel of the same name with both the author and the creators of the 2024 series borrowing from real historical power struggles to inform the plot line of the story.
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Shōgun follows ‘the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds, John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, who must prove her value and allegiance,’ the show's official synopsis reads.
Essentially, it’s a deeper look into the power struggle between warring forces in 1600 feudal Japan. The character of Blackthorne in the series is understood to be based on the real-life historical English navigator William Adams, who eventually became a samurai under a powerful daimyō, Tokugawa Ieyasu, on whom the series' character Yoshii Toranaga is based. He was the first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who ruled from 1603 to his death in 1616.
If you're among those to be filled with questions - and hope - of another riveting season, consider this your cheat sheet to a sophomoric series of Shōgun. This is everything we know so far.
Has Shōgun been renewed for season 2?
As of yet, it remains unclear what the intentions are for another series and there have been some mixed responses when the subject of a second season has been proached.
Shōgun's co-creator Justin Marks, who partnered with wife Rachel Kondo on the project, told The Hollywood Reporter in March: '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. And I’ve been party to this in the past with shows like this, where you build a whole factory and it only pumps out ten cars and closes up shop. It’s a bummer.'
His sentiments were further reiterated in another interview he did with Town & Country, in which he said: 'We’re very proud of that because the book ends so beautifully and boldly in this very unexpected and meditative kind of way. So, the story is complete.'
Marks doubled down on his statements even further by stressing that, given how long it took for the series to film and produce (it was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic), if a second season was a possibility, filming would have already commenced. 'We wouldn’t just be in the writers room already,' he said. 'We’d be on set shooting season two.'
That's not to say that there haven't been other stakeholders suggesting that another season of the series could potentially be on the cards. Speaking to The Direct, the show's executive producer, Michaela Clavell, daughter of author James Clavell, seemed to give a more hopeful answer. 'You know, the audience will let us know whether...there is their appetite for that. We shall see. It’s a great question. I wish I knew the complete answer, but I don’t.'
Watch this space!
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Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
