The global phenomenon that was the 2024 movie Wicked has come back for round two with Wicked: For Good. Before going to theaters to see this highly anticipated sequel, there are a few things you should know.
Wicked: For Good is the second act of the play Wicked (2003). The play is about three hours long, each act being around an hour and a half. When converting it into movie form, director Jon M. Chu wanted to expand on the story that so many people love, so he made the decision to split the movie into two parts, act one and act two. Both movies have around a three hour runtime, making the movie two times longer than the original play.
The play is based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Maguire wrote his book based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Each new adaptation of this well loved story adds so much to the overall world and new layers for everyone to enjoy.
Along with making the movie much longer than the play, Chu and everyone else involved in the making of the movie have decided to take some artistic liberties. Such as involving Glinda in the Wizard’s act two song “Wonderful.” Many people are praising this as an incredible idea as Glinda is a much more sensible person to try to convince Elphaba to rejoin forces with the Wizard than the Wizard himself.
Another exciting change is two original songs, one for Elphaba and one for Glinda. Stephen Schwartz, who is the original composer and lyricist for the stage production of Wicked, wrote both new songs. “There’s No Place Like Home,” sung by Cynthia Erivo, is a call to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and details more insight on Elphaba’s internal struggle of loving her homeland while it has never loved her back.
“The Girl in the Bubble” sung by Ariana Grande is a ballad to mark her change in heart. This song is when she decides to reject the popularity that turned her away from her best friends and move towards real “goodness.”
Chu has also stated that Dorothy, the main character in Wizard of Oz, will be included to a higher extent than she is in the original play. Dorothy is never seen on stage in Wicked, she is only seen as a silhouette. While in the movie she is said to appear much more, though she will still be a faceless character.
Overall, if you have any knowledge of the original play, it will relatively be the same as you are expecting. Though, they will most definitely be throwing in some curve balls that you do not expect.
