‘Shōgun’ Seasons 2 and 3 in Development

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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More “Shōgun” is in the works.

The hit FX for Hulu series is in development in two more seasons; “Shōgun” was originally announced as a limited series.

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Co-creators, executive producers, and writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo would return for Seasons 2 and 3, which FX says are now “likely” to happen, along with executive producer Michaela Clavell and series star and producer Hiroyuki Sanada. Production has not been set as the additional seasons have not yet been ordered — but a writers’ room is being assembled and will begin in the summer. The estate of novelist James Clavell, whose work the series is based on, has also approved the additional seasons.

So, about that whole “limited” thing… IndieWire can confirm the series is being entered as a Drama series at this year’s Emmys, not in the Limited Series category.

“Shōgun” has become FX’s most-watched show ever in its first nine weeks in terms of global hours streamed. All 10 episodes of “Shōgun” are now streaming on Hulu, with the finale having premiered on April 23.

“Shōgun” is set in 1600s Japan at the start of the century-defining civil war. Sanada stars as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. Yet when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants.

“Shōgun” was created for television by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, with Marks serving as showrunner and executive producer alongside Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, and Kondo. The series is produced by FX Productions.

Screenwriter and co-creator Kondo told IndieWire on the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast that the first season was meant to serve as a “short story” with a buttoned conclusion.

“There has to be this sense of surprise by the end but also this sense of inevitability that, of course, it’s going to end this way. And I think we brought that sensibility to every episode and tried to contain them in that way,” Kondo said.

However, fellow co-creator Marks was already planting the notion of follow-up seasons.

“I wish we could live in a world where we don’t have to build a factory just to pump out 10 cars and then close it up, you know?” Marks said. “I think right around Episode 5 is where there was this brief glimmer of like, ‘Gosh, we could just keep doing this.’ Like anything good, you want it to last longer.”

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