Wicked: For Good has been nothing short of a phenomenon. The movie, which is the second part of Universal’s adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, opened in theaters this past weekend to massive box office returns and a lot of chatter online.
There are plenty of things to discuss: twists and turns that surprised those who are new to the franchise, and small details or changes that surprised those who know the musical by heart. But one particularly funny topic has risen up in that: Ryan Reynolds.
**Spoilers for Wicked: For Good! below**
First thing’s first: an important disclaimer. Reynolds is not actually in Wicked: For Good. The actor and businessman has not appeared on the big screen since last summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine, and seemingly won’t do so again until he stars in Animal Friends and (reportedly) Avengers: Doomsday next year. But one specific detail about For Good has immediately drawn comparisons to Reynolds… and honestly, it’s understandable.
Part of For Good concerns the love story between Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who reconnect for the first time in years and quickly take the same side in the war against The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). They consummate their relationship — on the night of Fiyero’s botched wedding to Glinda (Ariana Grande), no less — and then a conflict with Oz’s royal guards seems to make things take a turn for the worst.
After Fiyero publicly defends Elphaba and threatens to kill Glinda, the guards take him away to be punished, beating him up and stringing him to a scarecrow stand. Elphaba, sensing that something is wrong and that Fiyero is on the brink of death, casts a spell to make sure he can never die.
The Scarecrow with a Mouth?
The movie, as well as many of the concurrent events of The Wizard of Oz, go along. Elphaba and Glinda are both changed for good, and Elphaba appears to die from a bucket of water being thrown by Dorothy. By the end of the film, we learn that this isn’t the case, and Elphaba and Fiyero had hatched a plan for her to hide in a crawl space underneath the castle until she can reemerge safely. When she does, she is greeted by Fiyero… who we now know was transformed into The Scarecrow.
This is where Reynolds comes in. Many people think that, in the practical makeup that transforms him into The Scarecrow, Bailey looks a lot like Ryan Reynolds. Not only just his normal face, but his unmasked, healing factor-proof face that he has while playing Deadpool.
If you look on Twitter, you will find countless comparisons between the two, and plenty of variations arguing that the texture of his face looks like shredded wheat. I’m not sharing a lot of those tweets here, because they use photos taken while in the movie theater, which is an action that I do not condone. But one recently-released behind-the-scenes photo does illustrate it pretty well.
Did the For Good makeup team intend for The Scarecrow to look like Ryan Reynolds? Probably not. Before this comparison started to be made, I also would have never even thought that Bailey and Reynolds have similar facial features. But the resemblance is definitely there, and even amid all of the memes, it is an interesting testament to how transformative the movie’s makeup is. After all, Boq (Ethan Slater) also looks pretty unrecognizable once he is forced into being The Tin Man. As a former theater kid, I know the power of heavy makeup all too well… and it is fun seeing it have the same effect in such a big blockbuster.
(featured image: Universal Pictures, Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic)
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