Even months before its release, Hiroyuki Sanada’s latest series was already garnering massive anticipation from fans. And, needless to say, as soon as it hit the screens, Shōgun didn’t hesitate to immaculately deliver to all of those expectations and do justice to the source material, becoming one of the biggest talks of the entire world and an internet sensation overnight.
However, that just might be about to change following recent reports about the series getting a second and third season greenlit by FX and being led by Sanada. Unarguably enough, that sounds just like what happened with Game of Thrones — i.e. the very saga Sanada’s series was being widely compared with — and things don’t seem to be looking all too good because of that.
Shōgun Reportedly Gets a Second and Third Season Greenlit
When fans finally got to witness Shōgun, their excitement was truly at its peak, and the series didn’t fail to do just as much justice to all the hype around it. With ten episodes in its first season, the show perfectly adapted to James Clavell’s titular novel on which it is based.
The reviews on the same were nothing short of extraordinary either, with a stunning 99% approval rating on the Tomatometer coupled with a 90% average audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, the fan-favorite series doesn’t seem to want to stop anytime soon despite seemingly exhausting its source material.
According to the most recent reports by @DiscussingFilm on X, the historical fiction drama has recently gotten not only a second but a third season greenlit as well — something that sounds oddly familiar to what happened with its rival Game of Thrones lore.
Seasons 2 and 3 for ‘SHOGUN’ are in the works.
Hiroyuki Sanada will return alongside showrunners Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo. pic.twitter.com/hccjgqBxDi
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 16, 2024
These reports further claim that the legendary mastermind actor Hiroyuki Sanada will ostensibly be returning alongside current showrunners of the series, i.e. Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, for the same.
But as much as they love the series and its exceptional storyline, their return is exactly what is terribly bothering the die-hard fans of the lore.
For a long time now, Sanada’s series has been compared to George R. R. Martin‘s super-popular novel series-based GoT series because of the similarity in their dark themes and storylines.
But this latest historical drama earned more acclaim among fans because it was to the point, accurate, and perfectly adapted as much of the source material as was available, as compared to the GoT franchise, which pretty much milked the saga to the very bottom.
However, this very thing that set Shōgun apart and above GoT seems to be changing now that FX has reportedly greenlit even more seasons for the blockbuster series when there’s pretty much no source material left to adapt since there was only one book from Clavell on this.
All of this being said, fans are inevitably worried about how it might end up being if the series of events continues to be this way, because milking a franchise down to the core never really turns out fine, and the reviews on the final GoT seasons is the perfect example of the same.
Fans Argue Why Shōgun Should Stop at Season 1
Although they would love to see similar content related to the saga, because of all the above-listed reasons and more, fans are arguing why Sanada’s latest series should stop its run at season 1.
While some are happy for Sanada scoring such a tremendously mind-blowing franchise, others are expressing their concerns about what matter the second and third seasons of this live-action lore would be based on.
All in all, here are their reactions to this news on X:
They dont have preexisting material that is phenomenal in its own right to ride on. It'll be interesting to say the least. S1 can be considered it's own stand-alone regardless.
— DominicK (@SPIDR555) May 16, 2024
Nah. Shogun's quality was too high & may have hit its ceiling. Only way for it to go is down, unfortunately. I hope it doesn't go too far down, so that even if it's lower, it still remains a high-quality show.
But who knows, maybe they figure out an angle to break the ceiling.
— Slick-O (@OsaTheWiseOne) May 17, 2024
You realize when Game of Thrones ran out of source material it got way worse, and that there is no source material for season 2 or 3? I don’t think they want this to turn out like GoT lol
— Lazer_Beemz (@Lazer_Beemz) May 16, 2024
That’s fucking stupid because there are no more Shogun novels to adapt
— Sean Hiruki (@seanhiruki) May 16, 2024
wait till they ruin it with some DEI shit now that theres no source material anymore
— 🇭🇷 Denis (@deniskraljic) May 16, 2024
3 SEASONS????? i have a really bad feeling about this
— harv (@harvv) May 16, 2024
FX has a major hit on their hands. They clearly want this to be their own Game of Thrones. Happy for Sanada. Dude is a masterclass actor.
— RJ (@ResonantJustice) May 16, 2024
This really should've stayed a one season show.
Really curious what material they'll use for 2 more seasons pic.twitter.com/0IZELMwkS9— Ryan 'All Day News' Anderson (@Ryans_Ramblings) May 16, 2024
They just couldn't help themselves.
Had a perfect finish to their show with no need to produce more.
But everything has to be a multiseason cash cow now.
— Alex James (@alexjvmes) May 16, 2024
All of this being said, if the series still continues as per the plans specified in these reports, then they will have to make more original material to develop into live-action pieces.
And since that isn’t something that could be perfectly pulled off easily, fans will just have to wait and see what becomes of their latest favorite gruesome lore.
Until then, you can stream Shōgun on Hulu.
