By Brigid Amoroso

Staff Writer

Beware of flying monkeys and minor spoilers ahead.

The story of “Wicked” was written as a novel by Gregory Maguire in 1995. It was inspired by the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” Maguire was intrigued by the idea of “exploring the nature of evil,” specifically from the perspective of a villain such as the Wicked Witch. Just a few years later, the novel was turned into a Broadway musical with original music by Stephen Schwartz. Currently, the musical is one of the longest-running shows on Broadway and has been running for 21 years.

Despite the book and musical being loosely inspired by “The Wizard of Oz,” the story has little to do with Dorothy and her little dog. The story primarily follows two young women: Elphaba, who eventually is branded as Wicked, and Glinda, who is dubbed Good. When the two cross paths at school, their lives are forever changed, “For Good.”

The tale of “Wicked” gained immense popularity as soon as it debuted on Broadway. The original cast starred the phenomenal actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda. It became a cult classic, and rumors of the musical becoming a movie began circulating almost immediately. Fans of the Broadway musical were desperate for a movie adaptation, and after two decades, the final act is here.

The first “Wicked” movie premiered on Nov. 22, 2024, and the second movie, “Wicked: For Good,” premieres on Nov. 21, 2025. Director Jon M. Chu decided to split the Broadway musical into two movies, with the first part as Act I and the second as Act II. Although this decision was met with backlash from fans of the musical, I believe this was a brilliant move, not only financially but also to differentiate the movies from the musical. Without the time constraints that come with a Broadway show, Chu could take liberties to rearrange and add to the movies.

The first act of the “Wicked” musical has most of the standout music of the whole show, with songs like “No One Mourns the Wicked,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” Act II also has fewer songs in total. To make up for this, Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the original music, created two new songs for “Wicked: For Good.” Those two songs are “No Place Like Home,” sung by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, and “The Girl in the Bubble,” sung by Ariana Grande as Glinda.

The song “No Place Like Home” was a nice addition to the story and soundtrack; however, “The Girl in a Bubble” was an unnecessary inclusion. The song itself was fine, and Ariana Grande’s performance was phenomenal, but its placement was damaging to the flow of the movie. It is placed directly after a high point, and the song then crushes the momentum that the movie had been gaining.

In “Wicked: For Good,” another addition was the development of Glinda’s backstory, similar to what they did for Elphaba in the first part. Unlike the musical, the audience gets to see her as a child and how she longs to be magical and good. This inclusion really helps to illustrate Glinda’s character.

Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, is in a wheelchair in both the musical and the movies; however, the movies are the first time that an actual disabled actress is playing Nessarose. In the musical, Elphaba can make Nessarose walk using magic. They chose to change this scene in the film as well as a few lyrics. Instead of walking, actress Marrisa Bode floats in the air. I liked this change because the plot point became less about being able to walk and more about a feeling Nessarose wanted to capture again.

Both movies looked stunning. I loved the amount of color that was used in the set design and costumes. Each costume felt that it fit the characters and their personalities so well. Some of the props they used, I thought, looked mediocre compared to others. For example, the magic bubble that Glinda uses to float around Oz looked amazing, but her wand looked rather phony. Similarly, the guns used in the movie didn’t necessarily look like guns to me.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were both fantastic in their respective roles. I think they brought so much emotion and humor to the movies. Both of their voices suit the characters so well, and their chemistry made them meld together seamlessly. One thing that I really enjoyed was how at the end of the movie, when they are singing “For Good,” Erivo is singing the higher melodies and Grande is singing the lower melodies, which is in direct contrast to the rest of the movie. This signifies how they have changed each other.

Jeff Goldblum is always very humorous in his roles, and I think he did an ample job as the Wizard, but he is not a strong singer. No one in this movie comes near Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in that respect. I wasn’t impressed by Michelle Yeoh’s rendition of Madame Morrible either. With both of their characters, I felt that they had to adjust certain scenes and songs because they couldn’t sing as well as their roles required.

Between the two movies, I think that Part One was significantly better than Part Two. The music stood out more, but that isn’t necessarily the movie’s fault since it is an adaptation of the musical. The pacing of the second film was not as solid as the first. Like I previously mentioned about “The Girl in the Bubble” song ruining the momentum, I don’t think it was the only scene to do this. Despite the second movie being shorter than the first, because of the constant rise and fall of momentum, Part Two felt longer.

I think that despite my problems with “Wicked: For Good,” “Wicked” fans will be happy with the conclusion of this story. The movies have been able to reach many more fans than those of the Broadway musical. They turned an amazing story into something even more grand and exciting. The first movie became the highest-grossing Broadway movie of all time and grossed over $710 million. I’m sure that this movie will follow in its footsteps.