Freeze! Major spoiler warnings for “Wicked: For Good” ahead.

The year is 1939, you go to your local movie theater with your friends, preparing to watch what you believe will be another movie you see once and then forget. You sit down, popcorn at the ready, and enter the world of Kansas. 

Honestly, you are kind of bored, what could possibly be special about Kansas? Then the tornado hits and you watch as the house is swept from its foundation and up into the air. Next thing you know, the world is in color. You are shocked, movies are rarely ever in color, and now you watch from the edge of your seat as Dorothy and Toto begin their walk along the Yellow Brick Road. 

That is when you see her, green skin and all, swooping down on a broom to steal the ruby red slippers on Dorothy’s feet. The Wicked Witch of the West has come in, monkey minions at the ready, cackling like a hyena. 

How could you possibly like her? She is tormenting a child. Even the actress, Margaret Hamilton, failed to get jobs after the movie due to the audience’s hatred for the character she played. Little did Hamilton know that her role would have an even greater impact on the arts than ever thought possible.

“Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” was inspired by Hamilton. Suddenly, the least favored character became the most beloved, as Elphaba Thropp captured the hearts of readers everywhere. 

One such reader was Winnie Holzman, who went on to write the stage musical “Wicked”. Holzman, inspired by the book, created a family friendly adaptation for the New York stage, taking out some of the more mature scenes (the original book was a lot spicier,) while leaving some of the greatest messages. 

“Wicked” went on to win numerous awards, including three Tonys and a Grammy. Idina Menzel, the original actress of Elphaba, and Kristen Chenoweth, the original actress of Galinda, took Broadway by storm. Now, one movie has turned into three cultural phenomena. 

The idea of adapting the stage musical into a movie has existed for years. In fact, Universal Studios first bought the rights to “Wicked” all the way back in 2004. It took two decades for just the first half of the stage musical to take screen, but it was well worth the wait. 

“Wicked: Part 1″ was released on November 22, 2024, showcasing Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Galinda. The movie musical was groundbreaking, receiving 88% in rotten tomatoes and 95% in the popcorn maker.  Nominated for over 3000 awards and winning 125, “Wicked: Part 1″ left audiences in anticipation for the second film. 

“Wicked: For Good” was released almost a year later, on November 21, and audiences flocked to the theaters. In just the opening week, the second movie made $147 million dollars, the second highest opening week grossing in 2025. 

With such a high grossing, and the success of the first movie to back it, one would think the second movie would be as memorable as all that came before it. However, a lot was missing from the second part of the duology that was seen in the first, making the movie lackluster.

While the first movie focused on Elphaba and Galinda’s time at Shiz, as well as how our favorite green girl became a so-called Wicked Witch, the second movie takes place simultaneously with the Wizard of Oz. We enter back into the wonderful world of Oz and see that propaganda has clearly taken ahold of the Ozians. Elphaba has received the unwelcomed title of Wicked Witch of the West, while Galinda (now Glinda the Good) has taken on a leading role in Oz politics. 

The movie was not bad per se. In fact, if there is one thing that this movie did right, it was keeping some major plot points from the first half.

While Elphaba first becomes the “Wicked Witch” because she stands up to the Wizard and Madame Morrible for attempting to segregate and discriminate against the animals, in the Broadway musical, this plot is largely forgotten after intermission. Instead, the stage musical decides to leave the animals in the past as they focus more on Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship.

In the movie, they kept the plot rolling by constantly bringing the animals back into question. This added some depth to Elphaba’s character that the stage adaptation did not have, as helping the animals shows that at her core, Elphaba is definitely not “Wicked.”

Along with the decision to keep the animal plot line for the second movie, the costume design was as worthy of an award as the first. It is no wonder that Paul Tazewell was hired for both films. Tazewell, who famously became the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for his work on the first movie, took inspiration from the stage musical while also keeping true to the movie’s story. 

“The beginning thought of that costume was to establish her silhouette as nostalgic of the 1939 Wicked Witch of the West,” said Tazewell in an interview with The Cut when discussing Elphaba’s “superhero” look. “I wanted to establish that she already has this as part of her wardrobe, so that we understand that she’s collected all of her things and moved into exile into the treehouse, her home. And in that treehouse, she has the ability to re-create her life.”

That, however, is where the praise ends. Where the first movie enraptured viewers into Oz’s world, the second movie failed to do so. This, in part, is likely due to major changes created in order for Michelle Yeoh to play the part of Madame Morrible.

Yeoh was the perfect Morrible in the first movie; no one can argue that a Golden Globe and Academy Award winning actress cannot act. Yet, you can argue that she cannot sing. This was proven during major songs, or parts of songs, such as in “Thank Goodness” or “The Wizard and I,” where Madame Morrible’s part was all but taken out for the actress. This has led some fans to believe that the casting directors, Bernard Telsey and Tiffany Little Canfield, should have looked for someone who can do it all.

“Because it’s a musical, I feel like it should be more about the singing,” said Linganore High School (LHS) junior Autumn Jensen. “So I feel like maybe they should have found somebody else that prioritized singing, or the actress should have worked harder to sing in the movie.”

Outside of the singing fails, some additional songs were written for the musical that just failed to live up to the originals. The two songs, “No Place Like Home,” and “The Girl in the Bubble,”  were added to Wicked: For Good, and where the songs in the first movie were adored – debuting at number one on Billboard’s Top Album Sales – feelings on the new songs are mixed.

“I feel like they were original, but they didn’t add much to the plot lines,” said LHS junior Avery Nalborczyk. “I feel like they could have been left out, and the movie would still be the same.”

Now, do not get me started on the plot. In the writer’s defense, the movie is an adaptation of the broadway musical. However, the point of “Wicked” is heavily being missed by many fans. Where people online state that Glinda is one of the true villains, or Elphaba is an angel, they overlook key features of their characters. 

Elphaba is the one who is feared her whole life, originally due to the green color of her skin, and later because of propaganda claiming she is some evil witch. Audiences sympathize with her, this girl who did nothing wrong and even is fighting for equality, only to be shunned due to her skin tone. 

Glinda, on the other hand, is the golden girl. In the eyes of the Ozian’s she can do no wrong. However, Glinda also proves to be selfish, willing to bully Elphaba and turn a blind eye to the problems caused by Oz’s government to stay liked.

Did the movie portray this? Yes, check. But did they go further? You can easily argue no.

Imagine you are about to get married when your fiance, who you have been with for four years, up and leaves you for your best friend. Would you still speak to them? Would you still love them and try to help them? Probably not. 

Glinda’s story is one of growth, where Elphaba’s is one of sacrifice. 

Elphaba sacrifices a lot for Oz, even “dying” to cause a change. But she still does some wicked things, such as running off with Fiyero and throwing it back in Glinda’s face later on. 

Glinda is the opposite. She does not start out as the best person, willing to ridicule Elphaba back during their time at Shiz and later doing little to help the animals due to the power she’s been given. But she does change, becoming Elphaba’s best friend and even being the one to send the Wizard away and put Madame Morrible in jail.

So, are either of the characters black or white? No, they are not. They both do good and they both do bad, but at the end of the day they have the right intentions. “Wicked: For Good” fails to capture their complexities. Elphaba is the hero and Glinda is the selfish brat until five seconds before the movie ends. 

New fans hating on Glinda and doting on Elphaba shows that despite separating the broadway show into two separate movies, the writers just could not deliver the story to its full potential.

At the end of the film, some may leave with mixed feelings. Was it a bad movie? No. Was it as good as the first? Also no. When so much love was clearly put into the first film, seeing the second one be just okay makes it a hard watch.

To be honest, “Wicked: For Good” was not so good.