The first season of Shogun ended with the promise that Japan would enter a peaceful era. Actor Hiroyuki Sanada said seasons 2 and 3 would be based on the true story but would focus on human dramas.
Hiroyuki Sanada gave fans a taste of what they can expect from Shogun after the cathartic finale of the first season. Hinting at his essential role in the coming seasons, Sanada is expected to reprise the cunning warlord Yoshii Toranaga, whose final scene saw him reflect on what is to come. Toranaga revealed that he was pulling the strings behind the scenes and has now commissioned the construction of a fleet of ships for Blackthorne (played by Cosmo Jarvis) in the aftermath. The finale marked a definitive end for the show with a hopeful premise, but ShogunThe breakthrough left audiences wanting more. Sanada told The Hollywood Reporter: Shogun We will now examine the events that preceded the two centuries of peace in Tokugawa Japan.
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“There are so many famous episodes in Japan,” Sanada teased when asked about ShogunThe continuation of the narrative. Seasons 2 and 3 are based on true events, but showrunners Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo explained that the challenge was to tell a story outside of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, which was fully adapted in Season 1. Sanada said the series had yet to reveal Toranaga’s master plan. “Toranaga’s strategies are like a chess game,” he claimed. “It’s not just about fighting. Human dramas are important.” There will be new characters and we will essentially follow the true story in seasons 2 and 3.. Before the peaceful era came, there were many dramatic moments.”
“Where we are going, there are no roads”
Marks and Kondo previously announced that they had already thought about ideas for ShogunContinuing the storyline during production of the first season, critical acclaim (and a historic 25 Emmy nominations) confirmed overwhelming support for two more seasons. “There were a lot of questions that we felt were still unanswered in the story,” Marks told Variety. “Not the least of which was that the title character doesn’t become the title character. And yes, that really is when you have history on your side. What you don’t have on your side is this wonderful book that’s moving forward. There are no paths to where we’re going.”
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Marks may also have revealed how ShogunThe story of would be expanded with new characters. “We spoke to one of our historical advisors who we really respect and just had a conversation about, ‘Tell us a little bit more about William Adams (the 17th century English navigator who inspired Blackthorne) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (the Japanese military leader that Toranaga is based on) and tell us about some new characters and some new things that are happening. And OK, yeah. Interesting.'” Sanada confirmed that they are pulling out all the stops to fast-track Seasons 2 and 3 of Shogun“We have a writers’ room and they’re working every day. Hopefully we can start filming sometime next year,” he said.
Season 1 of Shogun is streaming on Hulu.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter