My Chemical Romance tease ‘Phantom’ with message “A GAME YOU WILL PLAY”

My Chemical Romance have stirred conversation among fans after sharing a puzzling message on social media with no added context.

Earlier today January 25, the band uploaded a post to their Instagram featuring the caption “A GAME YOU WILL PLAY”. The same message also appeared on the page of guitarist Frank Iero.

The post is accompanied by a flickering visual showing the word “PHANTOM” glowing in neon green, with no music or audio included in the clip.

The band are set to perform their first show of 2026 tonight in Lima, Peru, after cancelling their planned tour opener in Bogotá last week due to circumstances outside their control. Despite the timing, the post does not appear to be connected to the ongoing ‘The Black Parade’ tour and does not match the visual style of their recent activity.

Fans of MCR have been waiting patiently for any hint of new material for some time. Their most recent release was the standalone single ‘The Foundations Of Decay’ in 2022, which marked their first new music in eight years.

The group’s last studio album arrived in 2010 with ‘Danger Days’. Although they entered sessions for a fifth album the following year, the project never came together and the band eventually split in 2013.

Since announcing their comeback in 2019, there have been occasional moments that reignited speculation, including in 2023 when rumours of a new album were shut down after a cryptic post shared by someone connected to the band.

More recently, last September, fans believed they had uncovered clues pointing to new music after spotting an on stage prop clock counting down to December 12, though the date passed without any announcement.

NME spoke to Iero in 2025 about the chances of new My Chemical Romance material. “No, sorry,” he said. “When that stuff if that stuff were to happen, we will tell you. We will tell you in the way we want to tell you.”

The band’s current tour reaches the UK this summer with a show at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium on June 30, followed by a date in Glasgow and three major nights at London’s Wembley Stadium on July 8, 10 and 11. They will then continue across Europe before heading to the US in August. Full dates and ticket details can be found here.

They have also revealed an extensive list of support acts for the tour, including Echo & The Bunnymen, Interpol, Joan Jett, Skunk Anansie, Sunny Day Real Estate and Mogwai.

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