The BTS: The Return documentary was inspired by the Odyssey and Greek mythology.
Director Bao Nguyen has revealed that the Netflix film draws heavily from the Greek literature classic Odyssey, which follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, on his tumultuous decade-long trip home following the Trojan War, and Greek mythology, framing K-pop giants BTS’ hiatus and reunion as a modern epic.
Asked by Teen Vogue how he came to direct the project, Bao said: “Well, it’s sort of a long story, but I won’t be too long. I had approached the label right near the end of their SoFi tour back in 2021. When I was at the concert, it was just sort of quite epic in many ways. For me, BTS was almost like Odysseus going away to war and ARMY was like Penelope, having this longing for their heroes to return. And so, I approached the label then with that idea, but they were deep into military service and everyone had sort of separate lives. And they came back to me the summer of 2025 saying, ‘Well, the group is back. They’re recording an album. Would you be interested in making a film about that?’ So, that’s when it started.”
That early spark — seeing the group’s massive SoFi Stadium show as something mythic — became the foundation for the documentary’s emotional tone. Bao explains that the Odyssey parallels weren’t just a creative flourish; they became a lens through which he understood the group’s journey and the fans’ unwavering loyalty.
But it was a moment with band member RM that truly confirmed he was on the right path.
Asked if anything any the band members said to him has stayed with him, he replied: “This was by happenstance in many ways. I mentioned that Odyssey and Greek mythology were a framework for the film, and we were just like sitting in the car with RM and driving from the home in LA to the studio, and he just starts talking about kairos and chronos, which are these Greek concepts of time, of chronos being sort of like measured time and linear time, and kairos being immeasurable and sort of like life in terms of moments and impermanence. And that was something that I… That was early on in the filming and that just clicked with me that what I thought coming from the outside of what their journey was also was something that they saw in their own perspective. And RM is obviously such a philosophical and wise person. So when he said that, I knew that we were going to have a chance to make a really great film.”
