The highly anticipated movie Wicked: For Good finally flew into theaters on November 21, 2025 as the second act of the Broadway musical. Many fans of the musical applauded the film for improving the second act as most fans saw the Broadway version as feeling rushed and all over the place.
The film takes place presumably a few years after Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was declared the Wicked Witch. Elphaba continues her fight to expose the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), while Glinda (Ariana Grande) revels in her newfound fame and engagement with the newly appointed captain of the guard, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey).
Elphaba discovered that her sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), had become a dictator in Munchkin Land. After a botched spell, Elphaba had to turn Boq (Ethan Slayter) into the Tinman to prevent him from getting killed by his shrinking heart.
After their ruined wedding ceremony, Fiyero ultimately calls off the engagement to find Elphaba so they can be reunited again.
Yet their time was short lived as he was dragged away by guards who were ordered to kill him for protecting the Wicked Witch. He becomes the Scarecrow after Elphaba desperately finds a spell to save him.
The film then follows the story of The Wizard of Oz. The final scene with Elphaba and Glinda brought tears to audiences’ eyes as they sang the final song of the musical before Dorothy (Bethany Weaver) tosses the water and defeats the Wicked Witch.
With a brief follow up, we see that Glinda will try to carry on her friend’s wish and improve Oz now that the Wizard has left.
The movie was wonderful, featuring beautiful visuals of Oz accompanied by unique costumes and hairstyles. From Glinda’s multiple outfit changes to the matching uniforms of the guards, all the costumes are filled with unique and small details to make them stand out.
Another addition is seeing more of Dorothy, we get to see her wander around Oz with her face hidden to really focus on Glinda and Elphaba, but also due to copyright issues surrounding Judy Garland’s iconic look for Dorothy. While on Broadway she was only seen as a shadow along with offstage dialogue.
I’d like to give credit to the special effects makeup artists for the movie. The makeup for the Tinman and Scarecrow is amazing. The small mechanical details of the Tinman made him look like an actual man made of tin, and same with the Scarecrow with his burlap skin and straw hair.
The songs were once again amazing! The powerful vocals of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sent chills down my spine and brought out the tears of emotion. The film also gives us two new songs written by Stephen Schwartz (original songwriter for Wicked), “No Place Like Home” (Elphaba’s solo) and “The Girl in the Bubble” (Glinda’s solo).
Overall, this was a beautiful film, and I definitely recommend watching it! Just make sure you’ve watched the first film ahead of time.
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