Wicked: For Good

Plot

After her public defiance of the Wizard, Elphaba Thropp hides in the forests, still fighting for Animal rights under the hated label of the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda Upland works as the Wizard’s public face and is set to marry Fiyero Tigelaar, now leading the Gale Force. During the grand opening of the Yellow Brick Road, Fiyero admits he is trying to find Elphaba, but Glinda argues that Elphaba wishes to stay hidden. Elphaba meets Animals fleeing Oz, among them her old nanny Dulcibear, and urges them to resist the Wizard.

The Cowardly Lion stops them, blaming Elphaba for setting him free as a cub—the only home he knew—and for causing the Wizard to create flying monkey spies. She then visits her sister Nessarose, who rules Munchkinland as governor and forbids anyone, including her servant Boq, from leaving without permission. Elphaba enchants Nessarose’s shoes so she can fly.

Boq, believing Nessarose no longer needs him and hearing of Glinda and Fiyero’s wedding, tries to depart. Nessarose casts a love spell from the Grimmerie, but it fails and shrinks his heart. Elphaba’s attempt to save him transforms him into a tin man. Returning to the Emerald City, Elphaba meets Glinda, who begs her to side with the Wizard.

Elphaba agrees only if the flying monkeys are released. Chistery, a monkey, shows her imprisoned Animals in the Wizard’s lair, including Dr. Dillamond, who can no longer speak. Renewing her fight, Elphaba frees them, interrupting Fiyero and Glinda’s wedding. Fiyero helps her flee and joins her.

Believing they are lovers, Glinda spitefully tells the Wizard and Morrible to spread a rumor that Nessarose is in danger to trap Elphaba. Morrible, realizing a simple rumor wouldn't fool Elphaba, creates a tornado that brings a house from Kansas that fatally crushes Nessarose. Glinda gives Nessarose's shoes to the house's occupant, Dorothy Gale, and directs her to the Wizard.

A fight begins between Glinda and Elphaba before the Gale Force arrives. Fiyero intervenes and holds back the guards by threatening to kill Glinda, and he finally accepts that he loves Elphaba. While the guards drag Fiyero into a field and savagely beat him as punishment, Elphaba escapes with the monkeys to Kiamo Ko, where she casts a spell to save Fiyero's life. Believing she has failed, she decides to embrace her perceived 'wickedness'.

Dorothy, alongside Boq, the Lion, and a scarecrow, meets the Wizard, who instructs them to kill Elphaba and bring him her broom. Boq rallies the citizens of the Emerald City against Elphaba. Lamenting that her public image is built on lies, Glinda confronts Morrible about the tornado, but Morrible rebuffs her. Glinda rushes to Kiamo Ko to warn Elphaba about the mob.

Elphaba kidnaps Dorothy and imprisons her to retrieve the shoes just as Glinda arrives. After Chistery informs them of Fiyero's apparent death, Elphaba decides to surrender, imploring Glinda to withhold the truth from the people and entrusting her with the Grimmerie. They reaffirm their friendship in a tearful farewell. Glinda hides and watches in horror as Dorothy douses Elphaba with a bucket of water, seemingly melting her.

Having regained speech, Chistery gives Glinda the green elixir bottle that belonged to Elphaba's mother. She brings it to the Wizard, who realizes that he is Elphaba's biological father and the reason for her power. Ashamed of his actions, he leaves Oz at Glinda's demand.

Glinda directs the monkeys to apprehend and arrest Morrible for her crimes. She finishes telling her story to the Munchkins and reestablishes rights for the Animals, who get their voices back. The Scarecrow – revealed to be Fiyero, transformed by Elphaba's spell – returns to Kiamo Ko and finds Elphaba hiding under a trapdoor, having faked her death to protect Glinda's reputation. Elphaba and Fiyero depart Oz through the surrounding desert while the Grimmerie opens for Glinda.

Production

The Broadway musical Wicked was first announced as a film adaptation in 2012. Its release dates were repeatedly pushed back, with scheduled dates including December 20, 2019, December 22, 2021, December 25, 2024, and November 27, 2024. The first film eventually came out on November 22, 2024. Director Jon M. Chu revealed in April 2022 that the story would be told across two movies.

Composer Stephen Schwartz backed that decision in June, adding that a new song was being written for one of the films. By November 2022, Schwartz confirmed two new songs would be included to serve the narrative. In December 2024, Chu described the film as darker than the stage show, with Dorothy Gale playing a bigger part. Principal photography for both films started on December 9, 2022, and was nearly complete by July 2023, when the SAG-AFTRA strike halted production.

Filming resumed and wrapped in January 2024. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande insisted on recording their vocals live during filming, so sound mixer Simon Hayes adapted the same technique he used on Les Miserables. Christopher Scott handled the choreography. Chu took inspiration from Steven Spielberg’s 1991 film Hook for the large-scale sets and practical effects.

This included planting nine million colorful tulips around the Munchkinland set and building a yellow brick road from real mud. Many sets from the first film were reused in Wicked: For Good. The life-sized train to the Emerald City became Glinda’s personal locomotive, and the Governor’s Mansion in Munchkinland incorporated elements from Shiz University’s library and Madame Morrible’s office. Chu also pointed to the 1998 films Pleasantville and The Truman Show as influences on how both movies portray Oz thematically, saying they help show a younger generation awakening to truths they were taught differently.

Release

Wicked: For Good premiered at the Suhai Music Hall in São Paulo on November 4, 2025, and was released in the United States on November 21, 2025.

Reception

Wicked: For Good grossed $540 million on a $150 million budget, becoming the second-highest-grossing Oz film and musical film adaptation, both behind the first film. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute listed it among the top-ten films of 2025, and it received several accolades, including nominations for five Golden Globe Awards and two British Academy Film Awards.