Goodbye army, hello music: Get ready for the return of BTS after June, once all the members have completed their military service. — BigHit Music
K-pop comebacks
Fans of K-pop megastars BTS will be counting down the days to June, as that would be the month when the remaining members of the group – RM, Jimin, Jungkook and Suga – will end their mandatory South Korean military service, and rejoin Jin and J-Hope, who were discharged last June and October respectively.
With no definite news on any BlackPink albums or shows at the time of writing, all eyes will be on Lisa’s upcoming first ever full solo album in February, titled Alter Ego. Hopefully it will whet the appetites of the Blinks before the band gets back together again.
Sounds good: Punk rock band Green Day will be among the international acts coming to Malaysia this year. — AP
Concerts galore
Having seen the likes of Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Akon perform here last year, 2025 will be another good year for Malaysian music fans with K-pop darlings 2NE1, and Western bands like Cigarettes After Sex, The Script, Hoobastank, Maroon 5, and Green Day, making their way here.
Oasis is also getting back together for a reunion world tour. Good luck getting tickets though – almost all the announced shows sold out in almost no time, proving that the band is still many people’s Wonderwall.
Heroes to save the day: ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ will kick off the year’s superhero slate in February.
Superheroes smash back
After the lean pickings in 2024, fans of superhero movies will have a lot to look forward to this year. Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World will start the year with a (Red) Hulk smash, followed by Thunderbolts* in May, and Fantastic Four: First Steps in July.
July will also see the official debut of the new DC Studios’ live-action film slate, Superman (July), directed by James Gunn.
Other upcoming movies worth waiting for are live-action remakes of animated features (Snow White, Lilo & Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon), much-awaited sequels (Wicked: Part 2, 28 Years Later, Zootopia 2), continuations of long-running franchises (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Jurassic World Rebirth), and last but not least, the long-awaited third Avatar movie, Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Best day forward: Jenna Ortega is returning as Wednesday Adams in Season 2 of ‘Wednesday’. — Netflix
Small screen wonders
Fans of genre television will be spoiled silly this year, with the return of popular shows such as Wednesday, The Last Of Us, Andor, Severance, and Stranger Things.
Superhero fans can also look forward to the upcoming Marvel TV shows Ironheart and Daredevil: Born Again (which will feature the return of Charlie Cox in the lead role).
