The creators of the FX hit Shōgun didn't let their Emmys For Your Consideration celebration get in the way of teasing where the show can go for its second and third seasons, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It was announced last month that FX and Hulu are developing two more seasons, which will effective expand the story beyond James Clavell's book on which it is based. It also means that the show will no longer be a limited series.
Creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo have been hard at work on what season two would look like since December 2023. Marks — who's married to Kondo — joked that they are currently at the “arguing” stage.
“And shooting down each other's ideas,” Kondo continued.
Shōgun's creators at the “arguing” stage for season two
“No, there's a lot of chaos but creative chaos, were we're throwing everything that we have at the wall, seeing what sticks. It's been exciting and nerve-wracking because, obviously, this is uncharted territory — we don't have a roadmap, we just have history,” she added.
The couple recently went to Japan for research, visiting different location as well as working with the Clavell estate “to study his process of curation,” Kondo said.
“How did he create which events, which characters, which characters can you conveniently combine — those sorts of things that kind of allow you to make something new,” she added.
Marks continued, “There's a lot of great conspiracy in history, a lot of different theories about, ‘Oh, it was said that this went on, but this really went on,' and those little darker corners are what we've really enjoyed exploring.”
He also confirmed that the series will end with the third season, “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.”
The man who plays the titular Shōgun, Hiroyuki Sanada, who also serves as a producer in the series, stated that they are currently discussing where the story will go.
“We don't have James Clavell's novel anymore, but we learned his spirit and the taste of storytelling. All his DNA is in our bodies, I believe,” he said.
Hiroyuki Sanada returns to play Yoshii Toranaga
It's hard to argue with Sanada as he has played the real-life figure which inspired Yoshii Toranaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu in the 1992 TV movie Oda Nobunaga, as well as the inspiration for his enemy Ishido Kazunari (Ishida Mitsunari in the 1988 TV special Tokugawa Ieyasu and the 1996 series Hideyoshi). He has also been in many jidaigeki (Japanese period dramas concentrating on pre-Meiji Era storylines) and is no stranger to playing anything from a foot soldier wielding his sword for his master to the actual master.
The actor also said that Tokugawa, hailed as one of the Great Unifiers of Japan, is his childhood hero for his legacy of peace that lasted more than a quarter of a millennium.
“When I thought about why I would play this role now, I thought that because human beings will never change and there's still war all over the world, we need that kind of hero,” he noted.
However, Anna Sawai will not be returning in the next season since her character SPOILER ALERT died in the second-to-the-last episode.
When she was asked if she's done with Shōgun or if there's a possibility for her to turn in flashbacks, Sawai replied, “They can do that. I don't know if it's necessary though. I don't want them to write something just to have her in it, like it feels a little forced. I'm happy. I just want to watch it as an audience. I was telling them I'm happy to go to set and like walk the dogs or be with the horses, that's my next job.”
If there's a possibility for Sawai to return, so could Tadanobu Asano's Yabushige. There's still a lot more to mine between his character and Sanada's — now that the show will no longer be bound to Clavell's novel.
Shōgun has history to rely on. Or the writers can always take me up on my suggestions.
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