Audiences unfamiliar with the original book and musical may have missed that the Lion, Tin Man & Scarecrow appeared unnamed in Jon M. Chu's Wicked.
Since Wicked is a reimagined prequel of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it is only expected those three Ozian characters would appear. However, their roles and relationships with characters like Elphaba, Glinda, and the Wicked Witch of the East would be heavily recontextualized.
Dorothy's three companions managed to appear in Wicked, whether audiences realized it or not. However, plenty of foreshadowing will make them wonder why and how they did not see it sooner.
This article contains spoilers for Wicked Part 2.
Who Becomes the Lion, Scarecrow & Tin Man In Wicked Movie?
Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion never had significant roles in the original Wicked musical. However, the Kansas girl squeezed in a minor appearance in the opening of Wicked, depicting the supposed death of the titular Witch.
Instead, in the musical and film adaptation of Wicked, the Scarecrow and Tin Man have the spotlight, especially the former. While the Cowardly Lion makes a minor appearance, what Wicked does with him is hardly as interesting as what Wicked did with Dorothy's other two companions—when they were not made of straw or tin.
The Cowardly Lion
The most obvious of the trio was the Cowardly Lion, who appeared briefly as the caged lion cub that Elphaba and Fiyero rescued. Unfortunately, being separated from his family, confined to a cage, and left to survive alone in the wild might not have helped his lack of courage.
Unlike the Scarecrow and Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion does not make any further appearances in the musical, at least not outside his tail being tugged by an irate Tin Man. However, considering how likely more expansive Wicked Part 2 will be, there might be a chance for him to have more screen time.
The Scarecrow
Elphaba's love interest, Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), is destined to become the scatterbrained Scarecrow. Something that has already been foreshadowed in Wicked through his lack of respect for academia and dropping out of so many schools before attending Shiz Univeristy.
Unfortunately, after Elphaba was branded the enemy of Oz, Fiyero would later help intervene in her capture, resulting in him being tortured in a cornfield. In a desperate attempt to save him, she used a spell from the Grimmerie, mistakenly turning him into a scarecrow.
The Tin Man
Boq's (Ethan Slater) fate as the Tin Man was foreshadowed through his symbolic lack of a heart in Wicked. During his futile attempts to gain Glinda's affection, he broke the heart of Elphaba's sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when she realized he was just using her.
So, Nessa attempted to cast a love spell on Boq, which had the unintended but appropriately ironic consequence of causing his heart to shrink. Fortunately, Elphaba saved Boq before his heart gave out by casting a spell on him that turned his body into tin.
Wicked Part Two will be released in theaters on November 21, 2025.
