Shogun is an early contender for best TV show of 2024. According to a network press release, the series, which debuted in February, is intelligent, complicated, extremely well-made, beautifully acted and the most-watched FX series of all time. All of which makes Thursday’s announcement that the show is returning for another season pretty unsurprising. The only question that remains is what exactly these seasons will be about.
According to FX’s announcement, the series is coming back for two more seasons. Development on the new seasons will begin soon, with work taking place between FX and the original’s estate Shogun Author: James Clavell. The upcoming seasons will also bring back many of the key talent from the first season, including co-creators, showrunners, executive producers and writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, as well as executive producer Michaela Clavell and producer and series star Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Lord Yoshii Toranaga in Season 1 .
Shogun’The first season of the series is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by James Clavell, which was originally published in 1975. The first season of the series adapts Clavell’s entire (very long) novel, which leaves the question of what exactly will be covered in the next two seasons up for debate.
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Photo: Colin Bentley/FX
A possible option for the exhibition could be to draw inspiration from Clavell’s other works. While Shogun is undoubtedly the most popular book, Clavell has actually written three other novels in his Asian Saga, with Shogun be the first chronologically. He also wrote Tai Pana book about two traders who ventured to Hong Kong in the 1840s after the First Opium War, Gai Jina sequel to Tai Pan set 20 years later and primarily in Japan, and Noble housewhich is set in Hong Kong in 1963.
This variety of novels could provide a solid foundation for multiple seasons, each set in a specific time and place. However, this would raise numerous other problems, including issues of cultural accuracy. Both Marks and Kondo have been very vocal about the accuracy of Shogun
Perhaps even more compelling, however, is the presence of Sanada. With the legendary Japanese actor returning to the series and his breakout performance as Toranaga being a standout aspect of the show’s first season, it seems more likely that Marks, Kondo and the rest of the production would opt to keep the story in Japan create a series that is a more direct sequel Shogun‘s story. Fortunately, this period of Japanese history has no shortage of fascinating and complex themes to cover in the show.
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Photo: Katie Yu/FX
While Clavell’s original novel changes the names of famous Japanese historical figures, it is closely based on the country’s true history, meaning we too can take a look at history to see what might happen next in the series. Toranaga is based on Tokugawa Ieyasu, a real-life Japanese daimyō and first shōgun of the powerful Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled the country from 1603 to 1868.
The first season ends with Toranaga on the verge of taking Osaka Castle, which Ieyasu actually did (albeit a little earlier than 1600). So if the series wants to follow the timeline of Japanese history, then next season will likely deal with the consequences of Toranaga’s decision to openly seize power. In real life, Ieyasu encountered quite a bit of resistance in the form of a rival daimyō named Ishida Mitsunari, who later led an army against Ieyasu and plunged Japan into civil war.
We’ll end the story here at the risk of revealing several potentially significant storylines, but needless to say, a civil war would weigh on future seasons Shogun plenty of space for great TV.
Of course, we don’t know exactly what the upcoming seasons will be about Shogun will take until FX makes an official announcement, but we know we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on it.
