Wicked: For Good
Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about Wicked: For Good. Fun Fact: Marissa Bode is the first wheelchair user to portray Nessarose, even though the character uses a wheelchair. This film, released in 2025, stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jonathan Bailey and was directed by Jon M. Chu. So without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Wicked: For Good picks up where the last film ended, with Elphaba on the run after being labeled the Wicked Witch of the West for calling out the cruelty of the wizard and Glinda being put on a pedestal by the Wizard of Oz and Madame Morrible. Elphaba is trying to figure out how to take down the Wizard, who is silencing the animals of OZ.
Wicked for Good is a magical musical that deals with friendship, tyrannical leaders, and standing up for what you believe in. It’s obviously similar to Wicked but also similar to Ne Zha 2, Maleficent, or The Wiz.
Wicked is one of my favorite musicals, and after how great the first film was, I was so excited for this one. I love the second part of the musical because it shows how Elphaba is alone but still fighting for what’s right, even if the cards are stacked against her, which is mirrored in the movie as well as showing how the tin man, scarecrow, and cowardly lion come to be. The movie is an emotional rollercoaster, but it’s still such an enjoyable watch.
When we see Elphaba in this film, she is trying to do what is right by freeing the animals who are being used as scapegoats and encouraging them to speak up, even though the wizard is trying to stop her. Elphaba has been discriminated against her entire life, so if there’s one thing she won’t stand by and watch, it’s others facing the same hate just because of who they are. You truly see how big her heart is and how patient she is with how much she has to deal with. Cynthia Erivo does a great job in this role, showing the struggle of wanting to be in this community but also seeing how there are so many flaws in the community that she must address cause no one else will. Her sister constantly blames her for stuff, even though Elphaba’s life has been pretty much looking out for her. Glinda, who is her friend, refuses to stand up for anything, and in the beginning, she thinks Fiyero is after her, and the animals she’s trying to encourage to fight back don’t want to. For a brief moment, the wizard almost encourages her to join him until she realizes he’s keeping animals held captive, which she frees. She almost leans into the wickedness but decides not to. In the end, Elphaba learns that for Elphaba to live, the wicked witch has to die, which she does, and instead of trying to carry the weight of Oz on her shoulders, she lets Oz deal with its problems.
Even though Elphaba doesn’t fully see her impact, it is shown that it’s working. I think with the humans shunning her and the animals on the run, you may not think it, but there are small changes she makes that have big effects. Glinda, of course, is one of the obvious ones, even if it takes a long time. Chisterly is one that was very subtle but that I enjoyed because when she’s talking to the animals he’s watching and the cowardly lion says Elphaba made the flying monkeys and Chisterly comes to the realization that they’re basically slaves and later realizes how important Elphaba is when she helps them get released. Fiyero joins her cause, too, which wouldn’t be a good look for your top army man to join the “enemy”. At the very least, her actions will make people question things going on in Oz, and unfortunately, change doesn’t happen overnight, but it definitely will happen. The film places these hints throughout the movie with the interactions between characters.
Glinda is a great example of how you can try to play all sides, and it will fail. Ariana Grande is the perfect person to play Glinda in this film, as she brings the laughs as this popular girl who’s just faking it til she makes it, while also pulling out the emotions of feeling like you didn’t really accomplish your goals. She learned so much from Elphaba and wants to support her, but in her mind, the best way to do that is to get everyone to work together peacefully; however, she is ignoring all the crimes the wizard has committed to try and bring peace. You can’t be friends with everyone, and at some point, you have to stand up for something, and even though it takes her longer than Elphaba and Fiyero, she eventually does. I feel like people love to hate on Glinda, which is valid cause she’s selfish, but at the end of the day, most of the hate should go to the wizard and Morrible. Glinda is interesting to me because some things she does really pissed me off, but in the scenes where she was hurt, I felt bad for her, and it made me emotional. I’m glad in the end she starts to clean up Oz, learn magic, and most importantly, live up to the Good in her name.
Fiyero is played by Jonathan Bailey, who is feeling guilty about not helping Elphaba because he knows the wizard is cruel and a hack. He keeps getting thrown into stuff that he doesn’t want to because of Glinda and Morrible. Elphaba thinks he may be against her, but she doesn’t know that he’s leading the hunt against her because he wants to be the first to find her and save her. I love how seeing her makes him decide to finally leave OZ and go with her. I knew he became the scarecrow but forgot how, which is hinted at on his character poster, but it’s basically the side effects of a spell to keep him alive after he gets tortured for knowing where Elphaba is. I’m glad in the end he and Elphaba leave to live happily ever after.
Madame Morrible is a character who always humbles Glinda, which is funny, but she is evil. I do really love Michelle Yeoh, and I think she can do evil well, but I do think she lacks when it comes to the singing parts. In both movies, she doesn’t have big singing parts, so I’m surprised they even kept them in. She and the wizard make Elphaba’s life more difficult, and I was waiting for her downfall. I’m excited that in the end, she ends up in prison, just like how she imprisoned so many others who were just trying to have a better life.
One thing I’ve always loved about this musical is that it’s not about Dorothy, and I was curious how they would handle that in this film. I’m glad that they kept the same story with Dorothy, where she’s in it, but they never show her face and don’t let her distract from the story. Her companions in the Wizard of OZ are already in Oz when she gets there, and Wicked says What if they were tied to the wicked witch and the good witch, with the lion being who Elphaba saved, the tin man being Boq, and the scarecrow being Fiyero. They just use her to show where that story would fit in the grand scheme of things and twist it from the original tale to give a happy ending.
When Elphaba goes to Fiyero’s castle, it’s definitely an upgrade from the treehouse she was in. I thought the design of the castle was cool, and I was intrigued about whether I could live there. Even though I found the castle interesting, I just know it would get lonely living there.
The outfits, of course, are on point just like the first. Not only did the outfits look stunning, but they also really matched their character and what they were going through. All the accessories really elevated the outfits as well to bring the entire thing to life.
Jon Chu directed Crazy, Rich Asians, which probably has one of the most beautiful wedding scenes, and this film has a beautiful wedding scene, well before it gets interrupted. It's like Jon Chu really knows how to give us a gorgeous wedding that looks like it is pulled straight out of a fairytale.
This music is beautifully arranged, which is no surprise due to this being adapted from a very popular musical that’s been running for 20+ years. There are sme subtle changes and 2 new songs which fit well into the movie. I love how even if you don’t know the songs, you’ll still be so enamored by the performance.
Boq and Nessa come up, and they are still annoying as ever. I think this is actually a good thing because the characters annoyed me in the musical, too, so I’m glad they still can carry that here. Nessa is played by Marrissa Bode, and she just blames Elphaba for everything, even though all she’s done is look out for her and refuses to see how their father emotionally abused Elphaba. Boq loves Glinda and is just with Nessa Rose because he doesn’t want to speak up, but after she casts the spell that almost kills him and Elphaba turns him into the tin man, he blames Elphaba and leads a charge against her when she was really just trying to help. I wished them the worst, and I’m not sure what happened to Boq, but Nessa moved into a new house. Even though I disliked the characters, I will give the actors their props for these roles.
Special effects-heavy movies like these can be hard because obviously, stuff like that becomes pricey. For the most part, I think it looked great, but the one scene that really shocked me was the de-aging of Jeff Goldblum because it was pretty bad. I think we knew he was her dad, don’t know if we really needed to see his face in that scene, since out of all the plot twists in the entirety of the story, that one’s pretty obvious.
My favorite part of this movie was No Good Deed, and for good. No good Deed because I wasn’t well-versed in the song before watching, but it’s such an intense moment as Elphaba tries to save Fiyero, and the song is just as epic as the spell she cast. For Good is a song I was familiar with, and it’s one of the most heartbreaking songs to me in the musical and the best line to sum up what it’s about is because I knew you, I have been changed for good. It’s about friendship, but it’s also about saying goodbye; it’s not about ending a relationship badly, but on good terms and discussing how you each made each other better. During this performance, they show one very cool Easter egg, which is the recreation of the original Broadway poster as they go through the memories of Glinda and Elphaba. There are so many love songs out there and break-up songs about romantic relationships, but this one is about a friendship where you both changed each other’s lives, and it builds up, and it’s just so sad but so lovely.
Wicked: For Good is a great conclusion and adaptation from a beloved musical. I thought the cast was great, and I loved the songs and outfits as well. Going to Oz was so much fun, and I just love this retelling of the story.
