Shōgun season 2 gets a major update from Hiroyuki Sanada and the showrunners

By Joe Allen Published February 8, 2025

As one of the best shows of 2024, it was nonetheless surprising that Shōgun, was renewed for a second season. The series is based on a book of the same name, and the show’s first season exhausted that story. At the 2025 Critics’ Choice Awards, star Hiroyuki Sanada and showrunners Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks spoke with Deadline about the upcoming season, suggesting that viewers may be surprised by how the show unfolds.

“We’re coming out of the writers room now. We’re also done with the 10 episodes and we have our finale now. That’s allowing us to start figuring out how we’re going to shoot this. But we’re very excited about the plan,” Marks said. “I think the thing to take away, more than anything, is how, I hope people are going to be surprised with some of the big ideas as soon as the first episode of part two. So, we’ll start there and see where it takes us for future stories. But we’re really excited about it, especially for [Hiroyuki Sanada].”

The show has been renewed for a second and third season, but there’s still no firm release date for either season. It seems like the second season still has to film, which makes it unlikely that we’ll see it before the end of 2025.

Sanada won for Best Actor in a Drama Series at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and suggested that he’s excited to his character Toranaga in power in the second season.

“In Season 1, [Toranaga] didn’t become a Shōgun yet. So, I’d like to see him become the leader of Japan. That is my hope,” he said.