This time last year, the movie adaptation for one of my favorite musicals of all time, Wicked, finally hit theaters after nearly a decade’s worth of speculation. As a theatre kid myself, the original musical has a special place in my heart. I still remember when my dad took me to the touring production when I was about 10 years old, which was my first intro to musical theatre, and it changed my life forever. The first movie did such an incredible job at capturing the flair and spirit of the original, while expanding on some of its most important themes and even political commentary. Even better news is that the 2024 release was only covering the first act of the musical, with a sequel coming out a year later covering the action-packed second act. And with the sequel’s release just around the corner, I thought it’d be nice to give a general view of everything you need to know before then.
Spoiler warning for Wicked (2024), and if you want to go into Wicked: For Good completely blind, come back to this article later on!!
The timing of this musical is a bit complicated, with act 1 of the show taking place before the events of the original movie “The Wizard of Oz”, and act 2 also taking place a bit before and during the events of “The Wizard of Oz”. Starting with Dorothy’s house falling onto the Wicked Witch of the East, which many fans pointed out in the trailer.
Wicked: For Good will most likely take a similar route to Wicked (2024), the sequel only being about 20 minutes shorter. And with two original songs added into the film, we can expect some extra runtime to musical scenes, or even some film-exclusive scenes will be added as well. The second act of Wicked is pretty tonally different from the first act, now with Elphaba fully embracing her “Wicked Witch” title.
As well, in my opinion, it’s much more emotional than the first act. Characters are put into morally compromising situations and are forced to choose what’s more important, reputation or loved ones? I’m personally excited to revisit this story and see which characters will make that decision. See you all on November 21st! Make sure to wear your greens and pinks to the theaters!