Too early to say anything for sure as of yet (duhh...),
but assuming that the 2025 tour will touch the Powerslave & 50th anniversary milestones in some notable way, I'd speculate the following:
- as some other(s) have suggested, I think they might, in a way, rehash the LOTB stage set concept of the "worlds" in slightly different, era-driven format: for example, open with Moonchild (or just include a few other Seventh Son tracks there) blue & white icy drapes etc. and after a few tracks, reveal the LAD/Powerslave/TBOS/Ed-Huntour esque "temple/pyramid" stage set underneath; both mentioned stage setups are easy to fill with references to the different albums and Eddies and effects of all sorts, along with props (e.g sarcophagus, inflatables...) should be able to make it lively enough for the remaining set length.
- this way the show would be using visual callbacks to the classic stage sets yet not rehashing the previous history tours too much; it also makes including material from the later albums slightly more "fitting" as it's easy to put visual references to the later eras to the stage show itself
As for setlist, I'd say LOTB set(s) are rather good indicator of the most likely "era spread"; majority of the setlist will be from the golden years, with some very welcome returning show centerpieces in the vein of Powerslave and Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 2 Minutes to Midnight might make its return as well and I'd expect slightly heavier Seventh Son coverage than on the previous tours. I'd also guess that something like Flight of Icarus and/or Phantom of the Opera have a solid chance to reappear. Given the heavy Senjutsu coverage of late, I think that any "modern" stuff will be 1-2 songs of the already-classics from Brave New World and/or Dance of Death. In other words, I doubt that any 2010-2021 stuff will be played, unless The Writing on the Wall becomes a semi staple (which I wouldn't mind)! As for 90's, I wouldn't rule out one slight surprise in the vein of Afraid to Shoot Strangers to make it. The Clansman would be most obvious, but assuming there will be a handful of more "epic" tracks already, I think they might go with a somewhat lighter cut. I'm always down for more Sign of the Cross, but I doubt it'd be featured, especially if Rime and possibly some other 80's show centerpiece will be there. Futureal was in the speculation for the Future Past tour and while that has absolutely nothing to do with whatever they'll come up with for 2025, I think its odds have somewhat improved
if they want to go with a fast-paced, classics-esque opener that is relatively merciful for Nicko.
So, given that they'll most likely play 15 songs and Fear of the Dark & Iron Maiden are cemented in any case, I think it's very likely that we'll get some very, very pleasant inclusions
and a few "they missed that chance again..." instances. Nothing is perfect etc.
