Wicked: For Good, comes to theaters on Friday, November 21, bringing the long-awaited and creatively celebrated end to this story of friendship, courage, and change. The storyline continues with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the scapegoat for the Wizard’s ill antics. She has been declared a danger to Oz at the end of Wicked: Part One for taking flight and advocating for the animals. Pitted against her and proclaimed as the protagonist, Ariana Grande as Glinda, is coached by Madam Morrible to deceitfully ensure the people of Oz that the Wizard is a fair and honest leader. With parallel’s illustrated that compare to the wicked that persists in our own world, this second film is bound to be a truth-confronting, musical masterpiece.
There is a lot to unpack in the trailers for the second part of Jon M. Chu‘s Broadway-to-big-screen rendition of this well-loved musical. It’s evident that this journey down the yellow brick road will be a familiar one, but not without new additions and twists. The story still appears to be intertwined with Dorothy’s own, and looks as if Dorothy Gale, the main character in The Wizard of Oz, will be more involved than in the Wicked Broadway musical. This certainly has fans curious as to who the might be cast as Dorothy, the lion, the tin man, and the scarecrow.
New Scenes and Costumes in ‘Wicked: For Good’
One scene depicted in the trailer momentarily shows Glinda and her love interest, Fiyero’s wedding, which deviates from the storyline of the stage musical. The trailer gives a brief glimpse of Glinda walking down the aisle just before an animal stampede sweeps in. While it’s a new take on the story, it certainly grants an added layer to the couple’s relationship that is so highly dependent on their social status and their feigned ignorance to the world around them.
As a part of Glinda’s costume in this wedding scene, the butterfly adornments in her dress and on her tiara are a resemblance to the butterfly choker worn by Billie Burke as Glinda in the original 1939 Technicolor film. Another small detail, but one that won’t go unnoticed by Wizard of Oz fans is Dorothy’s sparkly silver shoes that oppose the traditional red ruby slippers from the original film. This careful costume selection pays homage to Dorothy’s silver slippers in the book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” by L. Frank Baum.
‘Wicked: For Good’ Will See the Emergence of Two New Songs
This film will also see the addition of two new songs: Erivo’s, “No Place Like Home,” and Grande’s, “The Girl in The Bubble.” These two song additions are delicate yet integral for this edition of the Wicked story line and continue to give this movie its own sense of magic.
The Down the Yellow Brick Pod podcast episodes regarding the Wicked: For Good trailers touch on the detail of Dorothy’s dog, Toto, being shown wearing a leash in the new trailer, which they mention has never before been pictured. Historically, Toto usually runs free. While this could just be the precautions needed to keep the dog actor safe on set, the podcast hosts suggest that this could have a larger connotation in the evolution of animals as seen in Oz during this time. Perhaps it was a protective measure by Dorothy in this Wicked Universe to keep Toto safe while animals are being kidnapped and mistreated in Oz.
Elphaba continues fighting the good fight in her attempt to protect the animals of Oz and convict the Wizard of his mistreatment of them. It seems evident from the trailers that this passionate cast will take a step further within the themes surrounding justice and protection of the persecuted. This film may go above and beyond the musical, into where our world needs it to go, with an atmosphere that digs a little deeper into the realm of courageously doing what’s right in the face of adversity.
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