Adapting the second act of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked: For Good concludes the story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) in one grand finale. Following the events of 2024’s Wicked, Elphaba, now bearing the unfortunate title of The Wicked Witch of the West, continues her mission to exposing The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), who has no real witchcraft power and saving the animals from persecution and kidnapping. Glinda, now bearing the title of The Good Witch of the North, attends to her newfound royalty duties to ease the stress of the citizens of Oz and her wedding to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey).
Coming from someone who has never seen the Broadway musical, I can’t comment on how faithful Wicked For Good is compared to the musical’s second act. Director Jon M. Chu does attempt to savage what has been known as a flawed second act of the musical and balance the good from the bad, leading to mixed results.
Giving credit where it is due, the set design in the sequel is astonishing. There is life given to the sets and locations used. The production team captured a faithful homage to the original 1939 classic while mixing a fantasy world of magic with the old school 1930s to capture the feeling of The Wizard of Oz.
Both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande give it their all in the grand second act of the Broadway adaptation. Cynthia’s able to channel in Elphaba’s struggle to accept the new title The Wicked Witch of the West that’s been put on her thanks to The Wizard’s lies and deceits told to the citizens of Oz and Munchkinland. While her main goal is to free the animals from the outcast and persecution they face, and the horrible treatment and kidnapping, Elphaba must also take on The Wizard. Cynthia’s able to channel in the good in Elphaba and a new sympathetic take on The Witch, a character who wasn’t born a villain but is unfortunately made out to be.
Ariana Grande is able to channel in Glinda (formerly Galinda) and her struggle to ease the tension of the citizen of Oz and Munchkinland while keeping her concerns of Elphaba hidden and preparing for the wedding with Fiyero. Grande has balances humour with emotions and provide good improvisational comedic relief. Much like Elphaba, Glinda The Good Witch of the North only wants to do good, but it comes at a price.
What’s unfortunate about Wicked: For Good is much of the build up from Wicked is left deflating. Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible is underutilized after being built up to become a secondary antagonist and aide to The Wizard’s crusade against Elphaba. Jeff Goldblum is sidelined after much build up of his appearance in the predecessor and has the same minimal screen time. While being much of a grand character in The Wizard of Oz, one would hope for the same in Wicked: For Good. Yeoh and Goldblum do their best with what’s been given, but it is unfortunate they are underutilized.
While it was already known the second half takes place continuously with the original Wizard of Oz story, I couldn’t help but felt distracted by it. I understand that yes Wicked For Good is a new perspective on the story, sharing snippets of Dorothy and the gang back and forth takes away from the core story of Elphaba and Glinda and feels more like nostalgic bait.
Wicked: For Good is a flawed yet still enjoyable musical film from the hit Broadway musical. The cast do their best with what’s been given from the musical’s flawed second half and make most of it. For a grand epic conclusion it was meant to be, it felt more like a rushed anticlimax, coming out more underwhelming than epic.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via Universal Pictures.
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Written by Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, from the musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman and the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Produced by Marc Platt, David Stone
Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum
Premiere Date: November 4, 2025
Running Time: 137 minutes
Cinema from the Spectrum 
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