Universal Pictures
In 1995 Gregory Maguire, an author known for children’s books, published his first novel aimed at adults. It was titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, earning mostly favorable reviews and generating a large fan base that enjoyed his revisionist tale of the Witches from the Land of Oz. At one point not long after the novel’s publication, there was talk of Demi Moore producing a TV miniseries which went nowhere. Maguire stated in 2009 that he’d sold the rights to ABC for another miniseries attempt through Salma Hayek’s production company, but that also ended up really very truly dead. But the novel finally made it not to the small screen but the Broadway stage in 2003 as a musical. The show was a hit with its original stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, earning ten Tony Award nominations, winning three including one for Menzel in the Best Actress in a Musical category (the show itself lost to Avenue Q). With nearly 8,000 Broadway performances and still going strong — it’s now the fourth longest-running show on Broadway — international adaptations and touring versions, fans can now embrace the cinematic adaptation.
If you’re somehow unfamiliar with Wicked, the story opens with — spoiler alert — the melting of the Wicked Witch of the West as seen in The Wizard of Oz (both the original novel and the classic 1939 movie musical). As the Munchkins rejoice at the news delivered by Glinda the Good Witch of the North, one of them suddenly asks her if she was friends with the Wicked Witch. Glinda tries to skirt the question but then admits she was, or at least they crossed paths. The rest of the story is told as a flashback to the childhood of the Witch, with the name Elphaba (which is a play on the name of the original story’s author L. Frank Baum), how she was born green and rejected by her father, how her sister Nessarose was born with a disability due to some medication her mother took to prevent her from having green skin, Nessarose’s acceptance into the Shiz University where Elphaba is also invited to join after headmistress Madame Morrible witnesses her incredible magical powers, forcing her to room with a self-centered wannabe sorceress, Galinda Upland, who was expecting a private suite. Needless to say the two butt heads, and Elphaba is often an outcast and the butt of jokes due to her skin color, but Morrible knows she has something special that she just needs to harness, and the Wizard would certainly be interested in meeting her, welcoming her to the Emerald City. Elphaba and Galinda also find themselves at odds over the dashing Fiyero, a self-centered prince who is perfect for Galinda but is more drawn to Elphaba, and also discover there are some dark forces moving through Shiz and the Land of Oz that are putting the lives of its animal population — which has the ability to talk — in danger after the university’s last remaining animal professor, Dr. Dillamond, is forcibly removed from his class and the students are then shown a lion cub in a cage, the new way for humans to enjoy the animals, because keeping them in captivity from a young age will make them less likely to develop the ability speak (there are some subtle political undertones in this plotline that eerily feel all too current). Elphaba and Galinda eventually become friends (Galinda suddenly has a conscience and renames herself Glinda because that’s how Dillamond pronounced her name) and travel to meet the Wizard, but in the Emerald City they both discover the shocking truth about the Wizard and who is behind the attempt to keep the animals speechless.
And that’s all before intermission.
There is a lot more to the novel that was discarded for the show in order to make it a more family-friendly musical spectacle, and those omissions did upset some of the novel’s fans (yours truly included). But the musical did what it needed to do to become a success. Now the movie comes along and, if you aren’t yet aware, it is being released in two parts, the second of which will come in November 2025. So how does one turn a nearly three-hour live show into a nearly six-hour feature film without making it feel tortuously padded? Add back some of the book’s elements, of course. The feature film version of Wicked (Part 1) gives movie-goers the best of both worlds with more than enough of the show to please the musical’s fans, and just enough of the novel’s darkness to appease its devotees. It is the best of both worlds.
Of course Chenoweth and Menzel are iconic in the Broadway roles of Glinda and Elphaba (and have their own iconic cameos in the film!) but they have some competition in the performances of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. Grande has the snobby debutante persona of Galinda down pat, pretty much oblivious to anything that does not pertain to her, doing a weird hair flip thing to get attention, surrounding herself with sycophants like ShenShen (Bronwyn James) and Pfannee (Bowen Yang), practically throwing herself at the equally vapid Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), while believing that she deserves the attention of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) more than Elphba, despite Morrible’s constant put-downs that she doesn’t come close to matching her roommate’s talents. Grande, of course, sings the heck out of the songs by Stephen Schwartz, having a ball with her signature tune ‘Popular’. She really is perfection as Glinda and can command attention when it’s just her on screen, but she is no match for Cynthia Erivo.
Universal Pictures
Erivo commands attention any time she is on screen, and that makes sense since this really is Elphaba’s story (as told by Glinda). From the first moment she appears and draws reactions of shock and fear from those around her, you can feel her pain even though she puts up a front that she’s used to it by now. Erivo makes Elphaba both strong and vulnerable as she navigates her way through university, feeling seen by Morrible who tries to help her harness her powers, being patient with her even as her outbursts put everyone and everything around her in danger. She also gives Elphaba so much heart, and Erivo and Grande have a wonderfully emotional moment at a party organized off-campus by Fiyero where Elphaba enters unexpectedly wearing a black hat Galinda’s grandmother made for her, gifting it to Elphaba as a mean girl joke … but it does go with everything Elphaba wears (which is black). Knowing the crowd is gawking at her, Elphaba begins to dance to complete silence, except for a few titters here and there, while Galinda finally feels a connection and joins her, mimicking her moves. The pure emotion on Erivo’s face is heart-tugging and it’s the moment when the two women actually become friends. As played by both actresses, it is a truly pivotal moment in the film for their relationship. Of course another will come later in Emerald City as Erivo launches into Elphaba’s signature song, ‘Defying Gravity’, bringing so much power and emotion to her performance. That is her Jennifer Hudson ‘And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going’ Oscar moment. Just put the little golden guy in a box and ship it over to her now, she is that good. Of course that moment has to be absolutely spectacular because it is the Act 1 finale, on stage and on screen. So get ready for that year-long intermission.
Jonathan Bailey is wonderful as Fiyero, showing that he really is a more complicated person than he appears, especially when he also gets an attack of conscience while helping Elphaba set the caged lion cub free, seemingly ready to join her cause to liberate the animals … and totally confused as to why he cares so much. He also gets to cut loose and show of his singing and dancing skills in the manic ‘Dancing Through Life’ number. Did we also mention he’s easy on the eyes? Michelle Yeoh is great as Madame Morrible, easily switching from the nurturing tutor to Elphaba, to giving Galinda the cold-shoulder and withering put-downs in the blink of an eye. And while Yeoh herself has said she’s not a singer, she does a nice job with her ‘The Wizard and I’ song. Ethan Slater takes on the role of Munchkin Boq, who is totally smitten with Galinda (even though she keeps calling him Biq) to the point where she suggests that he should do something nice like ask Nessarose on a date, which would really impress her, so he does. But Slater shows us that even though he realizes Galinda is not interested and decided Nessarose is indeed someone he could romance, he still pines for Galinda (and yes, Nessa notices and isn’t happy). Marissa Bode, who is a disabled actress, is also a wonderful presence as Nessarose. She gives the young woman a fierce determination and strength, not wanting anyone to feel sorry for her or help her with her wheelchair, while trying to escape the massive shadow cast by her sister. The scene where she and Slater dance is both sweet and joyful. Jeff Goldblum shows up as The Wizard, giving us enough of his usual Goldblum-isms but nicely reigning them in a bit as well, and showing a bit of a sinister side to the character even as he’s trying to woo Elphaba into joining him in Emerald City (for what she later learns are nefarious purposes). All of the main players are fantastic, and all of the supporting characters are excellent as well. They all contribute to the film’s success.
Director Jon M. Chu, the master behind the sorely under-rated film adaptation of In the Heights, has put all of his skills to the test here to make Wicked both eye-popping and grounded, fantastical and realistic. He brings some nice camera movements to the musical numbers, while letting the actors tell the story the rest of the time. The team he has assembled to bring the Land of Oz to life has done some more than exemplary work, actually constructing the facade and courtyard of Shiz, augmenting sets with CGI but using as many physical set-pieces as possible which helps ground the fantasy in reality. This could have been a CGI nightmare, and many felt that was the case after seeing the first trailer, but it nicely balances the physical with the digital. The costumes are stunning, filled with visual nods to their characters, helping define who they are, and the hair and make-up is outstanding, down to the smallest detail like Elphaba’s green scalp. The green makeup worn by Erivo is also natural looking, and you won’t see a hint of any green smudges on her collars or cuffs. The screenplay skillfully builds on the book of the musical and incorporates enough of the novel’s tone to make it all work and not feel padded (even though there is a lot of the novel that still isn’t in the film’s story, at least in Part 1). It really packs a lot of emotion throughout the film which caused my eyes to water and lips to tremble several times, leaving me an emotional wreck by the end … but in a good way so that I need to see Part 2 without hesitation. Oh, and Chu has also managed to throw in a few The Wizard of Oz Easter eggs for the hardcore fans, my favorite being the title font that is the same used in the 1939 movie (yes, I geeked out over a font).
I was concerned about how the Wicked movie was going to turn out, especially when it was announced that it would be released in two part. I desperately hoped they would include more of the book to fill out the story and they have done an excellent job of keeping the movie family-friendly (I have to say I was surprised by the PG rating, assuming it would be PG-13), while bringing some of the darkness of the novel to the film’s overall tone. With the direction and skills of all the craftspeople to the exemplary cast and a true star-turn by Erivo, Wicked is everything I hoped it would be … and more. November 2025 can’t come soon enough.
Wicked has a run time of 2 hours 40 minutes, and is rated PG for some scary action, thematic material and brief suggestive material.
Universal Pictures
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