Will there be a Shōgun season 2? Latest news and speculation

The show was initially dubbed a limited series, as it adapted all of James Clavell's book of the same name. Meanwhile, co-showrunners Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks said the future of the series was up in the air.

However, it was subsequently announced that seasons 2 and 3 were officially in the works, with a writers' room later being assembled.

Marks and Condo are both returning for the new runs, as are executive producer Michaela Clavell and series star and producer Hiroyuki Sanada.

It's perhaps no surprise that the series has been renewed, given that it became FX's most watched show ever, based on global hours streamed.

But as the 10th and final episode of season 1 brought the adaptation to a dramatic end, what do we know about season 2 of Shōgun so far? Read on to find out.

Will there be a Shōgun season 2?

Yes! In fact, it has now been confirmed that Shōgun will return for seasons 2 and 3.

The news comes as a welcome surprise to fans of the show, especially after co-showrunners Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks previously revealed they may not do any more Shōgun.

Co-creator Marks told The Hollywood Reporter: "I don’t know. I keep saying it’s like we want to let everyone be on the same page when it comes to the book.

"And hopefully now the TV audience and the book audience are on the same page with what the story is and where it resolves.

"I think if we had a story, if we could find a story, we would be open to it. 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?"

Marks previously told THR that they think the show brings the original novel to a complete end.

He said: "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 10 cars and closes up shop. It’s a bummer.

"You know, one of our producers wrote a nearly 900-page instruction manual for how we do this show — almost as long as the book Shōgun itself. All of this infrastructural knowledge went into it."

Producer and star Sanada told Deadline that he had "never thought about season 2, because we used the novel in season 1 already. So, I accepted it as a miniseries, of course."

He continued: "But, as a producer, keeping this platform for the Japanese crew and cast for the next generation, it’s a very important thing.

"And, when I started living in LA 20 years ago, one of my missions was, I felt some big wall between East and West at that time. So, in our generation, I want to break this wall, and then create the bridge for the next generation. That’s my mission.

"And now, we’ve got this big success, and a great opportunity to create more seasons. Why would I stop? Only in my opinion as an actor? No, no, no, no. ‘Producer me’ taught ‘actor me’, 'You should continue to do it for the next generation, of course.' And then that’s why I decided to keep this opportunity for season 2 and 3."

Shōgun season 2 release date speculation

Now that Shōgun season 2 has gotten the green light, we're almost certain that fans will have to practise a fair bit of patience - as the first season took quite a while to produce.

Speaking to Town & Country, co-showrunner Marks admitted that they "spent five years on this and it [felt] like 30 in terms of just that level of detail that you have to put in every single day".

Initially intended to be filmed in Japan, the series was actually shot in Canada due to the pandemic. Now, with those restrictions not in place, there are suggestions the series could move to being shot in Japan.

Co-creator Rachel Kondo gave an update on season 2's progress in January 2025, telling Variety that the writing process is "ongoing".

"We’re still trying. We haven’t given up. And I’m not sure what we can say," she added, while Marks said: "We’re about six weeks from the end of the writers room."

Meanwhile, Sanada told Variety that the team are aiming to shoot season 2 in "fall of this year" - meaning a 2026 release may be on the cards.

Who could return for Shōgun season 2?

As for who could possibly return in season 2 of Shōgun, there has been a fair share of deaths and bloody battles. But really, episode 9 delivered quite the plot twist with the death of Mariko, meaning that Anna Sawai would seemingly not be back for a second season.

Lest we also forget that Lord Toranaga's son Nagakado (Yuki Kura) also died earlier in the season while fighting his uncle Saeki. Similarly, in episode 8, we also bid farewell to general Toda Hiromatsu (Tokuma Nishioka).

We do know that Hiroyuki Sanada is already on board for season 2 development, and is expected to be back as Lord Toranaga.

He previously told Variety that half of the existing cast from season 1 will be back, and "the other half will be new characters coming in."

He also refused to rule out the return of dead characters such as Mariko and Hiromatsu, as he suggested the actors could return for flashbacks or dream sequences.

When it was referenced that so many characters had been killed off in season 1, Sanada told The Hollywood Reporter: "Yeah, it’s a shame, right? No Mariko, no Yabushige, no Hiromatsu. Those lovely characters are gone.

"The actor Tokuma Nishioka, who played Hiromatsu, said in an interview recently that he and Yabushige would be coming back as zombies. (Laughs.) I have no idea yet. But they very well could come back somehow. Who knows? Ghosts? Flashbacks? Another character’s dream?"

For now, the cast we'd expect to make a return for season 2 include:

• Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga
• Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne
• Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige
• Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi
• Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari
• Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji
• Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Hirokatsu
• Yuka Kouri as Kiku
• Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba no Kata
• Ako as Daiyoin Lady Iyo
• Yasunari Takeshima as Muraji
• Toshi Toda as Sugiyama
• Hiro Kanagawa as Igurashi
• Junichi Tajiri as Uejiro
• Néstor Carbonell as Vasco Rodrigues
• Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito
• Nobuya Shimamoto as Nebara Jozen
• Yoriko Dōguchi as Kiri No Kata
• Yuki Kedoin as Takemaru
• Mako Fujimoto as Shizu No Kata
• Haruno Niiyama as Natsu No Kata
• Hiromoto Ida as Kiyama ukon Sadanaga
• Takeshi Kurokawa as Ohno Harunobu
• Yuko Miyamoto as Gin

What will Shōgun season 2 be about?

As for whether or not the second season will directly follow on from the events of Shōgun season 1, it remains to be confirmed.

We do know that the series is the third in Clavell's book series, and is regularly read as the first, meaning there are five other novels that could be adapted as source material for more seasons.

The second novel that follows on from Shōgun is Tai-Pan, which was published in 1966 and is regularly seen as Clavell's "tour-de-force".

It's already been adapted as a TV miniseries in 1980, and follows European and American traders who move into Hong Kong following the British victory of the first Opium War and the seizure of Hong Kong.

There are plenty of relationship dynamics, families and characters to get acquainted with in Tai-Pan, but whether or not the series will take that turn remains a mystery for now.

However, based on comments from the show's creatives, it seems that Shōgun is more likely to carry on directly from the ending of season 1, meaning it would take more of a creative licence from the team.

Co-creator Justin Marks previously told Variety that he felt there were "a lot of questions" that were "still unanswered in the story", "not the least of which is that the title character doesn’t become the title character", ie the Shōgun.

He said: "That’s really when you have history on your side, what you don’t have on your side is this wonderful book moving forward. There are no roads where we’re going.

"And I would be lying if I said we have the answers right now. We have been speaking with one of our historical advisors who we cherish, and talking just about, 'Tell us a little more about William Adams here and Tokugawa Ieyasu there, and tell us about some new characters and some new things that are going on. And OK, yeah. Interesting.'

"And really just building that together into a shape that started to feel like, 'Oh, I think we have to do this. I think we really love this idea.'"

Marks also revealed that he and the team know how the show will end, and that the third season will bring the narrative to a close for good.

He told The Hollywood Reporter: "The third season is really an ending. We know where it starts, and we know where it ends, and we know who is there on that journey. We’re just focusing on part two right now to really make sure we can get to that point. But part two is, as second chapters go, kind of a darker chapter."

Shōgun is available to stream on Disney Plus. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £4.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.