Shōgun co-creator explains the possibilities and pitfalls of a season 2
The historical drama has been a breakout hit – but a second season is far from simple.
Shōgun co-creator Justin Marks has addressed whether the historical drama could return for a second season.
Originally billed as a miniseries, the show has been a breakout hit on FX (in the US) and Disney Plus (internationally), building a large fanbase with its well-realised characters and detailed depiction of feudal Japan.
Cosmo Jarvis plays stranded English pilot John Blackthorne, who is drawn into a brewing conflict on the side of an isolated Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his translator Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai).
The final episode of the series debuted this week, prompting conversation to shift towards the possibility of a follow-up, with co-creator Marks telling The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn't know what the future holds.
"I think if we had a story, if we could find a story, we would be open to it," he explained. "But I don’t think that anyone ever wants to be out over their skis without a roadmap and everything. And it’s also just about, do people want more of it?"
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The screenwriter, who served as showrunner alongside Rachel Kondo, also stressed the importance of living up to the vision of author James Clavell, who penned the novel on which Shōgun is based.
"How do you even equal the roadmap that Clavell laid out? And I don’t know if it’s possible," said Marks. "I don’t know if Clavell could have done it either. That’s probably why he moved on to other books too, right? He knew what he had done."
Chronologically, Shōgun is the first instalment in Clavell's series of novels – collectively known as the Asian Saga – with the next entry, Tai-Pan, jumping forward by more than 200 years.
Marks admitted he is reading Tai-Pan at the moment – "apropos of nothing, honestly" – and considers it a "great book", but "completely different" to what audiences have grown accustomed to with Shōgun.
"It’s about Hong Kong in the early days, a totally different world, so it’s not just playing the hits," he explained. "He’s conjuring new vivid characters that stand 75,000 feet tall all at once."
If the same team were to attempt another Clavell adaptation, Shōgun would have to take an anthology format similar to that of Fargo or American Horror Story, due to the time and geographical distance between each entry.
Marks added: "It’s tough because [in] Fargo, you’re still telling different threads of the same place, whereas the Asian Saga goes all over the place for good reason. So it’s hard. You’re not actually building off that same language in the same way."
Clavell's six books include stories set in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Iran between the years of 1600 all the way up to 1979 – a large canvas indeed, and quite the undertaking for even the most experienced TV producers.
We'll bring you more updates on the future of Shōgun as they come in.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
