By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
Wicked: For Good is about choice, propaganda, loyalty, love and at the center of it all, the complex but defining friendship between the witches of Oz. In the eagerly anticipated sequel, we and the characters that audiences fell for in the first Wicked film leave the safety of Shiz University for the real world. A little older, but not necessarily wiser in some regards, we watch these timeless characters try to navigate a darker version of Oz as fascism is rising. Although from Cynthia Erivo to Jonathan Bailey, the actors give compelling performances, Wicked: For Good reinforces some of the weaknesses present in the source material.
In Wicked we saw the wonder and magic of Oz and the optimism of the characters before they get a glimpse behind the curtain. When audiences catch up with Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) in Wicked: For Good, she is transformed from a scrappy outcast to a tragic heroine. Throughout the film we see the costs of her flying solo and the toll it takes on the young witch to be the subject of a smear campaign.
Being familiar with the musical that both films are based on, with a well-listened to soundtrack of my own, I found Wicked: For Good pretty easy to follow. However, it occurred to me when the friend I saw the movie with expressed confusion that some of the plot points and their resolutions may not be as clear to newer, non-musical fans of the material. Still, the film honors its source material with at times heartbreaking performances of beloved songs and sequences such as “As Long As You’re Mine,” “No Good Deed,” and, of course, “For Good.” Additionally, as fantastical as some elements of the film are, in moments of brutality it reminds the audience that the stakes are real and, despite the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) charm, he and his regime pose a very real threat.
On a personal level, Erivo gives a permanence that compels audiences to feel for this young woman, doomed to never be chosen by anyone in her life. In this fraught political climate, it’s haunting to see Elphaba act as a Cassandra of Troy figure and try desperately to warn the people of Oz that they’re being misled and a vulnerable population is unjustly being stripped of its rights, only to not be believed. In the case of Glinda the Good, while star Ariana Grande excels at making her three-dimensional it seemed at times that although Glinda was never meant to be a villain. Perhaps the affection for Grande behind the scenes caused the powers that be to forget that the character she plays was never meant to be a heroine but instead exists to be a cautionary tale about the long-term consequences of complicity in the face of injustice. Sequences such as “Girl In the Bubble” add very little to the film, as songs such as “Thank Goodness” convey the conflict within the character just fine.
Although the political undertones in the film feel at times frighteningly relevant, some parts of the movie feel dated. The love story between Fiyero (Bailey) and Elphaba is compelling with chemistry that leaves audiences yearning for more, yet if watching two women physically fight over a man was pushing it in 2003 musical; it feels downright reductive in 2025, especially when, in context, there are much larger issues in their friendship, such as Glinda’s decision to be a tool of the very fascist regime Elphaba’s trying so desperately to dismantle.
The film itself opts to end on a hopeful note, where the musical closed with bittersweet ambiguity; both endings, in their own way, are a reflection of their respective time periods. Wicked: For Good tried to balance respect for the original musical while making changes when it was necessary. Sometimes the risks taken paid off, other times it left something to be desired. Although Wicked: For Good is an imperfect adaptation of an imperfect play, its redeeming quality is that it has heart.