Disney Plus is starting to become BTS central.
I know this, primarily, because I have a fan of the superstar K-pop group in my household, and — listen, here’s the thing. I was led to believe, around the middle of 2022, that the seven members were taking a short-term hiatus. My wallet, however, would beg to differ, on account of all of the new merch, music, and more that I’ve bought for my BTS fan since that announcement (just days ago, for example, I was gently encouraged to log on to iTunes to do my bit and buy Jimin’s new song Like Crazy — which sounds great, actually, and has a seductive The Weeknd vibe).
The wave of new projects and releases that has followed the group’s pause has included, in addition to new music and an official Lego set, also the band’s Animal Crossing-style mobile video game In the SEOM — plus multiple releases available to stream on Disney Plus, including the just-announced SUGA: Road To D-Day. That one will be focused, as the title makes clear, on the group’s lead rapper Suga, while still there’s another documentary release coming to Disney Plus that will focus on the group as a whole.
We’ll take a closer look at all of it below.
BTS content on Disney Plus
The group’s existing content on Disney’s platform includes a fantastic BTS concert film revisiting the Los Angeles shows from the band’s Permission to Dance tour at the end of 2021.
There’s also a reality series called In the Soop: Friendcation, an extension of sorts of the BTS-centric reality series of the same name carried by the online platform Weverse and which lets viewers follow BTS as they take a break from the hustle and bustle of pop superstardom to relax with each other in a remote location.
In the Soop: Friendcation, meanwhile, focuses on BTS member V, who’s accompanied here by several of his friends.
Recent months have also included the debut of the j-hope IN THE BOX documentary, while future projects include BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star — plus the aforementioned Suga project.
BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage
The concert film, according to the streamer, “showcases the live performances of the BTS concerts held at the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium in late 2021 (Nov 27-28 & December 1-2). The concert film is stage-focused and includes performances of the Grammy-nominated music group’s hit songs Dynamite, Butter, and Permission to Dance.”
I caught the final show as part of the group’s Permission to Dance era last year in Las Vegas, which is also where and when the group announced their anthology album Proof that came out a few months afterwards. Not being familiar with many of the songs, I can nonetheless attest that the band’s show was a supremely thrilling live experience.
The only prerequisite to being a fan of the group, it seems, is being amenable to feeling good. Once you’re open to the sights, sounds, and to having a good time, they’ve all but got you.
Accompanying my superfan to see them live was also my first post-pandemic vacation — and, believe me. Once you’ve lived through something like a global public health crisis, tens of thousands of people singing Life Goes On at the top of their lungs absolutely hits different. Whether you’re technically part of the BTS “Army” or not.
More original content to check out
Meantime, here’s what else is available to watch on Disney Plus if you’re a fan of the group.
In the Soop: Friendcation
For this release, BTS member V was joined by friends like Park Seo-joon, who’s part of the cast of the upcoming Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels.
From the official Disney Plus summary:
“Park Seojun, Peakboy, Choi Wooshik, Park Hyungsik, and V, the well-known friend group of the entertainment industry, enjoy spending any time they get to have together. In the winter of 2022, a friend’s surprise proposal sends them on a four-day friendcation to Goseong in Gangwon-do. Witness how they spend their time as they become their true selves together. In a story of friendship, this is a travel record of five friends who mean more than family.”
Disney Plus subscribers who aren’t even necessarily fans of the group, by the way, will absolutely be able to appreciate this title. It’s a calming, feel-good watch — starring five friends who take advantage of a little bit of time together to remind themselves what’s most important in life.
j-hope IN THE BOX
Moving right along, February saw the debut of a Disney Plus film offering a behind-the-scenes look at group member j-hope’s preparation for and launch last summer of his solo album Jack in the Box.
“Hobi” was first out of the gate with a solo effort following BTS putting a pause on its collective activities last year, and he also gave a historic performance at Lollapalooza last year in support of his solo album — becoming, in fact, the first South Korean artist to make a main stage headline appearance at a major US music festival.
“Over the course of the documentary,” Disney Plus explains about the special, “viewers will be given a never-before-seen look at the creative challenges faced during the album’s preparation process, as well as front-row seats to j-hope’s 2022 Lollapalooza performance and the album’s listening party.”
BTS-related Disney Plus project yet to come (pun intended)
Finally, two additional BTS-related titles are hitting Disney Plus at some point this year, we just don’t know when precisely. They include:
A docuseries that’s focused entirely on the band itself, and it’s titled BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star. From Disney’s official summary: “This original docu-series follows the incredible journey of 21st century pop icons BTS. With unprecedented access to a vast library of music and footage over the past nine years, the series will feature the daily lives, thoughts and plans of BTS members, as they prepare for their second chapter.”
And, finally, fans just learned this week that they’re also soon getting SUGA: Road To D-Day.
This title, focused on BTS’ lead rapper, will also air on the platform Weverse, and according to a news release it will follow Suga — whose solo tour, the first for a BTS member, kicks off on April 26 in New York — as he goes on a “musical journey.”
Continues the news release, this documentary “will showcase Suga and his impressive skillset, giving viewers an intimate look into the life of one of the world’s biggest stars.”
Streaming releases like these are welcome news for many BTS fans, who are watching the respective group members each sign up for Korea’s mandatory military service (which requires an 18-month commitment). Jin, for example, is already several months into his service, and j-hope is preparing to leave for his.
Because of the various ages of the seven members, as well as the staggered enlistment start dates that they’re planning, the band’s management says the group won’t come back together as a functioning group until 2025.
