Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the classic 1900s novel turned big-screen musical, and while it turns back the clock to flesh out characters like Glinda the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Wizard himself, it does eventually catch up to the original story. That means Wicked: For Good, the second and final installment of Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation, is set to depict some moments from The Wizard of Oz, just from a different perspective.
For Good picks up years after green-skinned magical savant Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) became a pariah in Oz and parts ways with her best friend, Glinda (Ariana Grande). Though she tried to “make good,” she ran afoul of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) for refusing to align with his fascist impulses. Now branded a wicked witch, Elphaba has spent ages honing her magic in solitude. Glinda, meanwhile, has become a puppet of the Wizard’s regime. These estranged friends will reunite as Elphaba reemerges to take the fight to the Wizard, straining Glinda’s loyalties further.
Anyone who’s seen The Wizard of Oz knows Elphaba is doomed. Young Kansan Dorothy Gale will eventually defeat the witch, and Wicked: Part One already teased the original protagonist’s arrival with its opening number, “No One Mourns the Wicked.” But Part Two will go a bit farther than even the musical it’s adapting, bulking up Dorothy’s presence in the prequel.
The first trailer for Wicked: For Good teases Elphaba’s reunion with Glinda and the Wizard’s continued attempts to defeat the Wicked Witch. With the help of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), headmistress of Shiz University, all of Oz is set against Elphaba. Even her old friend, and Glinda’s current fiancé, Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), is leading an army tasked with hunting her down. But none of the Wizard’s tactics will work — not until he encounters Dorothy.
Unlike the musical, which only alludes to Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, For Good will depict several moments from The Wizard of Oz. The trailer shows Dorothy embarking on her journey from Munchkinland, where she first meets Glinda, to the Emerald City. There, the Wizard commands her and her companions — the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow — to bring him Elphaba’s flying broom. For Good is bridging the gap between The Wizard of Oz and Wicked itself, and for Chu, it was important to give Dorothy a bigger role in Elphaba’s story.
“That intersection is the place that we were first introduced into Oz,” Chu told Vanity Fair. “We tread lightly, but try to make more sense of how it impacts our girls and our characters than maybe the show does.”
That said, Dorothy’s presence won’t derail Wicked. According to Chu, it always goes back to Elphaba and Glinda. “I think the meat of what Wicked is all about happens in movie two. To me, this is why this story exists,” Chu added. “This is where our childhood dreams collide with our adult selves.”
