Wicked: For Good – The Shorter Second Half Stays True To The Source

In 2003, the American Film Institute, in a series of lists–most famous of which the AFI 100 that gave poster makers a cheap and easy gift for the holidays–announced the top 100 “Heroes and Villains.” It’s a list of 50 upstanding movie characters, and 50 worst of the worst. The years since have seen the Breaking Bad generation creating backstories and redemptions for even the most black and white of villains. But ahead of the curve, also in 2003, a musical was released that paints a new picture for one of the most classic Hollywood ne’er-do-wells.

Wicked: For Good is the 2025 sequel to Wicked: Part One based on the long running Broadway play Wicked which is *loosely* based on the 1995 novel on the nature of good and evil Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Disney has made money hand over fist reimagining their classic stories in live action or on stage. Now Universal is getting some of that sweet adaptation money. In fact, Broadway’s highest grossing musical is The Lion King. And Wicked is number two.

A Journey in Reverse

But The Lion King went from movie to stage, and Wicked is making the reverse journey. Wicked is a long play and to make a faithful adaptation (and make more money) Universal decided to split into two movies, filmed back to back with the same cast and crew.Part One received great acclaim–winning Golden Globes, Critic’s Choices, and receiving 10 Oscar nominations. Not to mention 432 million dollars (third domestically in 2024) and an 88%/95% critic and audience consensus on Rotten Tomatoes.

So when it comes to things to compliment about Wicked: Part Two, it is, everything that was carried over from the first one. The staging, production design, and casting are phenomenal. It is no small feat to translate one of most iconically colorful films onto the stage and then back to a different interpretation on the screen, and Wicked did a wicked job at that. The costuming, sets, and feel all put you in an Oz that is different enough from the original yet still engaging.

I get why audiences and critics were captured by the first Wicked. Because the first half of the *show* Wicked had some great character work and all the best songs. They gave a faithful adaptation. But everything after maybe the greatest show stopper in Broadway history (“Defying Gravity”) goes downhill a little bit. And in giving the theater junkies and Wicked fans a good adaptation, the movie makers handicapped themselves from making a great conclusion.

Most of the harsh critiques you’ll see of Wicked: For Good are critiques of the second act of the show. Characters disappear for large chunks, the rationale for characters is questionable, and the songs just aren’t as good. So what we have to say as a culture about the second Wicked movie is actually more about what we want out of adaptation more than what we got in this movie. Because the adaptation from the stage is pitch perfect.There are additions to fit the run time, but they feel in the nature of the play. And the visuals of Oz and the characters are on par with the first half which was well regarded. The direction, whether from the actual director or the Hollywood producers behind the scenes (the man behind the curtain if you will) was all about bringing the stage to the screen, note for note.

And I don’t have a strong take if that was the right choice or not.

There is an alternate universe where a director with a strong vision and love for the source material was given some leeway in how to show the Dorothy half of this story and maybe it would have gone terribly, or maybe we could have seen something even better. It would have been a big swing, but at least it would be a swing. What we got in Wicked: For Good was safe. And honestly, fan serving faithful adaptations like this one are in the minority. Of all the books to movies, comics to movies, and video games to movies we have seen in the past couple decades, this play to movie is the most true to the source. And it’s really cool to see fans get such a heartfelt adaptation to a movie. Whether that choice was for bad or…for good.

Wicked: For Good (2025)

WICKED: FOR GOOD – IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Genre: Musical Event

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum

Director: Jon M. Chu

Screenplay by: Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox

Based on: the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, from the novel by Gregory Maguire

Producers: Marc Platt p.g.a., David Stone

Executive Producers: Stephen Schwartz, David Nicksay, Jared LeBoff, Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox

Release Date: November 21, 2025

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 137 minutes

Synopsis: And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend …

Last year’s global cinematic cultural sensation, which became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time, now reaches its epic, electrifying, emotional conclusion in Wicked: For Good.

Directed once again by award-winning director Jon M. Chu and starring the spectacular returning cast, led by Academy Award^® nominated superstars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the final chapter of the untold story of the witches of Oz begins with Elphaba and Glinda estranged and living with the consequences of their choices.

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).

Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Oscar^® winner Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard.

As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Olivier award winner and Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq (Tony nominee Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.

As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.

Wicked: For Good also stars Emmy nominee Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James as Glinda’s fawning assistants, Pfannee and ShenShen and BAFTA and Grammy nominee Sharon D. Clarke (Caroline, or Change) as the voice of Elphaba’s childhood nanny, Dulcibear.

The filmis produced by returning Tony and Emmy winning powerhouse Marc Platt p.g.a. and by multiple Tony winner David Stone. The executive producers are Stephen Schwartz, David Nicksay, Jared LeBoff, Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. The first film, Wicked, released in November 2024, earned 10 Academy Award^® nominations, including Best Picture, and won the Oscars^® for Costume Design and Production Design. To date, the film has grossed $750 million worldwide.

Wicked: For Good is based on the generation-defining musical stage play withmusic and lyrics by legendary Grammy and Oscar^® winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, from the bestselling novel by Gregory Maguire. The screenplay is by Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox. The film score is by John Powell & Stephen Schwartz, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.

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