Shōgun | FX collaborating with James Clavell’s estate for two more seasons

Shōgun is coming back for more! FX Networks is working with James Clavell’s estate to make two more seasons of the hit TV series. More on Shōgun season 2 and 3 below.

Spoilers for the entirety of Shōgun. 

If you’ve been reading our reviews of Shōgun, you know we were big fans of FX Networks’ new TV series, set in feudal Japan. Across the 10 episodes, we were offered a thrilling, intriguing look at the specific dynamics and politics of the time. 

The series was based on a novel by James Clavell and the 10 episodes covered the entire book, but it may not be over for Shōgun quite just yet. 

Deadline reports that FX and Hulu (the US streaming service that Shōgun is available on across the pond) is working with James Clavell’s estate to develop two more seasons of the drama. The series aired on Disney+ in the UK. 

The renewal was rumoured a few weeks ago and news of star/producer Hiroyuki Sanada’s contract being renewed only added fuel to the flame. Co-creators, executive producers and writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo will also return to the world of Shōgun as well as executive producer Michaela Clavell.

There’s no word on whether Cosmo Jarvis, who played the English sailor, John Blackthorne, caught in the middle of the feuding lords, will return. There’s certainly more stories to tell as the ending saw Sanada’s Lord Toranaga swear he would keep Blackthorne in Japan after destroying his ship and planning to destroy every ship he ever builds on Toranaga’s shores. 

It looks like we won’t be getting more of Anna Sawai’s Lady Mariko. Mariko sacrificed herself in the attack at the end of episode 9 and while many held out hope that she would have survived, episode 10 lamented that she was truly dead, having made peace with her past. 

We can always hope that Sawai turns up in a flashback of sorts, but Mariko won’t be a part of the main cast for the next seasons. 

More on Shōgun as we hear it.