The upcoming Wicked movie has caused quite a controversy online as fans and cast members share their reactions to the film's original poster versus that from the Broadway musical vs fan edits popping up on social media.
Based on the beloved musical of the same name, Wicked will transport audiences back to Oz on the back of a stacked cast including Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Wicked follows Elphaba (played by Erivo), the green-skinned woman who - for better or worse - becomes known as the dastardly Wicked Witch of the West.
The Wicked Poster Drama Explained
Cast members are up in arms as the newly debuted Wicked movie poster becomes the center of a major online controversy.
The poster, which sees Ariana Grande's Glinda whispering into the ear of Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba, is a direct reference to Wicked's classic book cover and Broadway musical branding from its original run.
However, some have deemed it does not mimic the Broadway marketing material closely enough, causing fans to take matters into their own hands and produce their own edits of the movie poster.
Some of these fan-made creations include the liberal use of generative AI to produce their results, adding fuel to an already raging fire of controversy.
The most viral of these fan-made posters features Erivo's face shrouded in shadow like that of her character from the Broadway poster. It also slightly raises Grande's hand to cover her nose, again like that of the Broadway original, in an image coming from @arianatorswildt on X (formerly Twitter).
See the image below for a comparison between the original Wicked movie poster and the popular fan edit making its way around online:
These edited posters caused some of the movie's cast to come out publicly decrying the changes, including Cynthia Erivo herself.
In a now-expired post on her personal Instagram Story from October 16, Erivo wrote an impassioned statement to fans, saying, "This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen:"
"This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people posing the question “is your ***** green. None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us"
She went on to posit, "Without words, we communicate with our eyes," and "hide my eyes is to erase me:"
"I am a real life human being, who chose to to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer ...because, without words, we communicate with our eyes. Our poster is an homage not an imitation, to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful."
Erivo's response to the edits has not been met well by fans. A certain contingent of social media users voiced their dismay at Erivo's comments, claiming that to call the movie poster a slight change from the Broadway original would be an understatement.
This comes as fans have taken the movie's poster and run with it, not just creating fan edits of the still image but (at times) offensive AI-generated videos involving the promotional piece.
Erivo's co-star, Ariana Grande, got in on the poster controversy action as well, sharing her thoughts on the AI-generated videos that are going around poking fun at the movie's marketing.
During an appearance at the Academy Museum Gala, Grande told Variety, "I find AI so conflicting and troublesome," calling the advancement in AI technology "something that is so much bigger than us:"
"I think it’s very complicated because I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period. This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits."
She continued, saying that sometimes things can go too far and that her heart is with Erivo during this controversy:
"I think so. And I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much. It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us."
Erivo has posted several of these fan-made creations directly to her Instagram Story calling their creators out.
One of which is a piece that puts the actress's face on the famous Thousand Yard Stare meme, a satirical image usually used to represent a blank, unfocused stare or disassociation due to stress.
It has not been all negative though, Erivo did have positive things to say about one particular Wicked-themed edit used by musical artist Charli XCX (via Instagram).
The image sees a crudely Photoshopped Grande whispering in Charli's ear just like she does in the movie poster and was used to promote the recently released remix of the Charli XCX song "Sympathy is a Knife" featuring Grande.
Wicked arrives in theaters on Friday, November 22.
