Wicked: For Good will fix one major issue that many have with the Wicked musical, which should make the final product of the sequel more effective. Wicked: For Good will be released on November 21, 2025, bringing the two-act Broadway musical adaptation to a close. A trailer has already been released for Wicked: For Good, and many have wondered just how closely the film will follow the play.
The Wicked sequel, Wicked: For Good, will officially make the movie's version of Glinda's character arc different from her story in the musical. The change will be a rather major one to fix an issue between Glinda and Elphaba's characters and relationship.
According to Wicked: For Good director Jon M. Chu in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Wicked musical has one major problem in Act II that the movie will aim to fix. Chu revealed that the issue stemmed from Glinda and Elphaba not interacting with each other throughout Act II until later on in the story, which is something that Wicked: For Good will not adapt faithfully.
Specifically, Chu confirmed that Ariana Grande's Glinda and Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba will be reunited much earlier in For Good than the two characters are in the musical. This will result in there being more scenes featuring both Elphaba and Glinda than in the musical, leading to a final product that will look radically different (in some scenes) from what fans of the musical are used to.
Chu stated in the interview that "no matter what, [Wicked: For Good is] always about" either Glinda or Elphaba, "or their relationship:"
"What we really focused on was, no matter what, it's always about either one of them or their relationship."
For reference, in the musical, Glinda and Elphaba don't interact with each other after the latter flies away during her iconic "Defying Gravity" scene, which Chu felt was a mistake.
"It's always about them," said Chu when talking about the movie as a whole, teasing that fans will get to see Glinda and Elphaba on-screen together many different times throughout Wicked: For Good's runtime:
"What we discovered was, 'It's the girls, stupid!' at every turn. So, when one's going through something, there's something that they've learned from the other that affects them, or the fact the other person is not there is part of what can't get them to their goal. It's always about them."
It is unclear how many scenes the two characters will have together in the upcoming film, and how much the movie will focus on characters outside of the two leads.
Wicked: For Good will also star Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum, and Michelle Yeoh.
Will Wicked's Source Material Deviation Hurt the Movie?
Fans of books, musicals, video games, or movies tend to cringe when an executive or creative mind behind a project talks about an adaptation making changes. Wicked is no exception, as it is a massively popular stage play beloved by many.
However, many will likely agree that Wicked is centered around Glinda and Elphaba, and that the first film spent nearly every scene building the pair's relationship. In turn, it would be a bit odd for the sequel not to feature the characters together nearly at all, and that it would undo some of the legwork the first movie put in.
There is also a big difference between the play and the movie because both acts of the play are viewed in the same sitting, or at least very closely together. The movies, on the other hand, will have around a 1-year gap between them, and are two entirely different titles.
So, it is not as big a deal if Elphaba and Glinda don't interact as much in the play because the audience just saw them together in real time moments earlier. It would be strange for an entire movie not to include the story's two main characters, especially since their arcs are so dependent on each other.
