‘Monsta X: The Dreaming’: Why is K-pop idol Shownu missing from his movie trailer?
The last two months of 2021 are going to be the busiest for Monbebes (Monsta X’s fandom). Apart from the usual concerts, radio shows, music festival appearances, Monsta X is producing back-to-back content. They will be having two comebacks in a month -- their second English album ‘The Dreaming’ and their 10th K-pop mini-album ‘No Limit’. On top of that, we are getting their very first movie ‘Monsta X: The Dreaming’, but member and leader Shownu seems to be missing.
Shownu happens to be nearing the age of 30 which is the maximum age limit for all healthy South Korean males to enlist in mandatory military service. We’ve had a lot of our favorite third-gen K-pop idols enlisted like members of EXO, Pentagon, and VIXX. Shownu was the first Monsta X member to enlist in the military and despite serving as a social worker, he has been gifting fans with pre-recorded appearances. A lot of fans were looking forward to his participation in the group’s sophomore English album and first movie ‘Monsta X: The Dreaming’.
RELATED ARTICLES
'Monsta X: The Dreaming': K-pop group announces movie ahead of English album
Monsta X 'No Limit': Release date, tracks and all about their rodeo album
'Monsta X: The Dreaming' trailer released
While both English projects have been recorded in advance and include Shownu, he is conspicuously missing from the promotional content. On November 18, Monsta X released the trailer of their documentary film ‘Monsta X: The Dreaming’. The one-minute-long trailer shows the five members -- Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, and I.M. -- performing exclusively for the movie. There are also other shots of all six members practising in the past and at their world tours but Shownu is out of focus, either hidden or in the background. However, his name is there on the poster of the film.
Watch the trailer below.
Why is Shownu missing?
Some upset fans started trending Shownu on social media as they couldn’t fathom why the leader of the group was missing from his own movie trailer. They went on to wonder if he would altogether be missing in the actual film. Other fans and South Korean netizens gathered to explain the Monsta X member’s absence. It is a South Korean law that when a citizen is in the military, they cannot have another occupation during the service and cannot earn apart from the military salary allotted to them.
shownu didn’t work his ass off promoting monsta x on every variety show he was thrown in since debut for sse to cut him out of a movie about their journey as a group
— anna 🧸 (@dawnuayo) November 18, 2021
The movie poster for The Dreaming has Shownu’s name on it, what the fuck are you guys on about? Y’all never stop and think? He’ll be there, there’s a reason he’s not on the trailer and that reason is probably enlistment… pic.twitter.com/aUd4Y2fgIS
— m i k a h ᓚᘏᗢ n o - l i m i t (@monbebepabu) November 18, 2021
In fact, on the same day, EXO’s Baekhyun was in the news as his label had to take down his pre-recorded YouTube vlogs that he had scheduled for fans while he was in the military. And like Shownu, while his content was pre-recorded SM decided to take them down so as not to cause any misunderstanding. Monbebes wondered if it will be the same for Shownu and if he will also be missing from the full movie as the profit generated will be during his time in the military. However, SM did mention that there was no law that was against the filming and production of a video before enlistment.
wondering what sse is gonna do for shownu too since it’s basically the same as baekhyun’s situation
— ًPEACHES BY KAI OUT ON 11/30 (@cbxmvs) November 18, 2021