BTS ‘Wings’: 4 Creepy Fan Theories Explaining Bangtan Boys’ New Short Film

BTS just dropped their new short film “Wings,” but the fan theories explaining the BigHit Entertainment boy group's new video are already pouring in.

Most thought BTS (Rap Monster, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook) had finally laid their youth concept to rest with the latest installment in their “Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa” (“The Most Beautiful Moment In Life”) series, “Young Forever," and that they would be starting a new era. However, it looks like the boys’ coming-of-age story might not be over yet. Check out some fan theories explaining BTS’ new short film “Wings” below!

1. Jungkook is dead, and “Wings” shows him in the afterlife.

The most common fan theory about BTS’ new short film “Wings” is that Jungkook might be in the afterlife. In the beginning of the clip, he dreams of a car crash, which might be how he died. In “I Need U,” the first installment of the “Most Beautiful Moment In Life” series, it was implied that Jungkook was hit by a car while crossing the street, though the actual incident was never shown.

It’s also possible that the boy in the painting and the drawing he finds on the floor is Jungkook himself, with the red paint on the latter signifying blood. The birds in the short film could also be crows or ravens, which are often associated with death. Check out this video elaborating on this theory below:

2. Suga committed suicide in “I Need U,” and Jungkook is remembering his death.

BTS fans are also speculating that the boy in the photo Jungkook picks up from the floor and in the painting might be Suga, and that the reason why the younger boy had been sobbing when he saw his image is because he has yet to accept his best friend's death.

At the beginning of the clip, Jungkook dreams of a burning piano, and the same image appears once more in his eyes when he looks at the painting of the boy. In “I Need U” and the “Prologue,” Jungkook and Suga appeared to have a close relationship, with several scenes showing just the two of them together. However, in the final scenes of “I Need U,” Suga doused the hotel room he had been staying at with gasoline and burned it with him still inside, implying that he may have committed suicide. In “Run,” Suga went on a rampage and appeared to be self-destructive, and at one point, he even punched Jungkook. But the timeline of the music video was never determined,so it’s possible this could have happened before Suga burned down the hotel.

Other clues supporting this theory is that the piano could be a reference to Suga who is the only member of BTS known to play piano, and that a line from the rapper’s song “Tomorrow” is featured in the clip, which says, “Because the dawn right before the sun rises is the darkest.”

3. Jungkook was reincarnated and began to remember his past life in "Wings."

This is somewhat related to the first speculation, but in this case, Jungkook is not in the afterlife and has been instead reincarnated. His dreams could be him remembering how he and possibly even his friends died in his past life.

This theory came from one fan who speculated that the birds in “Wings” might be phoenixes, which commonly symbolize rebirth and are also associated with flames. In the final scene of the short film, Jungkook’s shadow showed a pair of big wings sprouting from his back, which could be be alluding to him having been reborn and given another chance to live out his youth after having died so young in his past life.

4. Jungkook either dreamed or imagined everything, and none of his friends were real.

In “Wings,” Rap Monster can be heard reciting a line from Hermann Hesse’s “Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth,” saying, “The realms of day and night, two different worlds coming from two opposite poles mingled during this time.”

In Hesse’s coming-of-age story, Emil struggled to differentiate between two worlds, illusion and reality, until he finally “awakens into a realization of self.” Based on the line, fans speculated that Jungkook could have dreamed everything, including all the events from “I Need U” to “Young Forever.” He may have only imagined the other six members, since he was lonely and had no one else in the world. Another theory is that he may have been in a coma after a car crash, and while he was under, he dreamed up a life where he had six close friends whom he spent all his time with like in “Run.”

One clue that supports this theory is that in “Run,” there was a moment where Jungkook had been sitting next to a couch with his friends in front of him. However, in the next second, he was all alone.

According to a Tumblr user, the reference to “Demian” could also mean that the wings might be symbolizing Jungkook maturing and finding himself, much like Sinclair did in Hesse’s novel. “ The story of Sinclair describes the problems that young people face while growing up and trying to find out who they are (find their own personality). The bird that comes out of the egg is Sinclair who finally found himself and grew up. That's why Jungkook has wings in the film,” wrote the fan. Read their full analysis here.

Check out this tweet elaborating more on the "Demian" theory below:

Bonus: Jungkook might have made a deal with the devil.

According to one theory, “Wings” could be a reference to “The Picture of Dorian Gray” in the sense that Jungkook might be living two lives like Dorian Gray did. In Oscar Wilde’s novel, Dorian, upon realizing his mortality, begs for his portrait and his life to be reversed, so that while the painting of himself grows old and becomes riddled with imperfections, he will stay young and beautiful. In “Wings,” the painting of the boy Jungkook finds could be a portrait of himself, and everything that happened to him, including the scars from his car crash, is reflected on the painting, while he himself remains unblemished and pristine.

Which fan theory do you think best explains BTS' “Wings”? Do you have a theory of your own? Share your thoughts in the comments! Meanwhile, for those who missed it, watch BTS’ new short film “Wings” below.