Will there be a Shōgun season 2? Why show is likely over despite its success

The final instalment of FX’s hit historical drama Shōgun, aired on 23 April, delivered a powerful finale which left viewers wanting more.

The show, set in early 17th century Japan is based on the bestselling novel by James Clavel.

Its protagonist, an English navigator called John Backthorne (played by Peaky Blinder’s Cosmo Jarvis), finds himself stranded in Japan where a civil war is looming during the end of the Sengoku Period (1467-1600).

After entangling himself in its thorny political landscape, Backthorne is left at the mercy of samurai warriors and, eventually, in the custody of a Japanese warlord, Yoshii Toranaga (played by John Wick: Chapter 4’s Hiroyuki Sanada)

Toda Mariko, played by Anna Sawai (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) acts as Backthorne’s love interest and Lord Toranaga’s interpreter.

Compared to television heavyweights like Game of Thrones and Succession, and praised for its emotional depth and careful storytelling, Shōgun’s premiere became the most-streamed first episode ever developed by FX.

But will there be anything released beyond its first season?

Will there be a Shōgun season 2?

The short answer: probably not.

Despite its instant success, Shōgun has not been renewed for another season.

The storyline for the first season has already covered all the material from Clavel’s 1975 book, and so will unlikely be followed up with a second.

Justin Marks, who co-created Shōgun along with his wife Rachel Kondo, has already come out and said there will be no season two.

“It’s a bummer,” Marks told The Hollywood Reporter.

“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.”

Marks’s wife compared ending the show with bringing up a child.

“It feels a lot like parenting,” she said, “where you get really good at, like, washing bottles, or all the other things that babies require, and then suddenly they don’t need any of that anymore. And you’re like, ‘Aw, I got so good at that.’”

However, running out of source material has not stopped some shows from creating new seasons and, in potentially positive news for fans, FX has neither confirmed nor rejected the idea of a second instalment.

How can I watch Shōgun in the UK?

Shōgun has been streaming in the UK from February 27.

It can be watched exclusively on Disney+.

With critics praising its epic scale and lush detail, new fans are emerging all the time, binge-watching the series on Disney+ from beginning to end.