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Something has changed… there’s now a trailer and a new teaser for Wicked: For Good, the highly anticipated conclusion of the big screen adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical. A reimagined backstory of the so-called Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, Wicked‘s first film installment premiered in 2024 to great box office success and general acclaim. The sequel, which covers Act II of the musical, was filmed concurrently with the first movie, and is slated to hit theaters just one year later, opening before Thanksgiving.
Before it opens, you can find out everything you need to know about Wicked: For Good by following the yellow brick road scrolling down to learn all the facts about the upcoming film.
WHEN WILL WICKED: FOR GOOD COME OUT?
Wicked: For Good will hit theaters on November 21, 2025. This puts its release almost a year to the day after the first Wicked‘s premiere, as that film opened on the 22nd. Wicked: For Good will initially be exclusively viewable in theaters, and it won’t arrive on VOD or streaming until some time later. (For reference, the first Wicked was available as VOD after a month in theaters; it was streaming on Peacock by the end of March, four months after the theatrical release.)
WHO’S DIRECTING IT?
Jon M. Chu, who directed Wicked, also directed Wicked: For Good. He directed both films at the same time, in fact, as they were filmed concurrently. Filming for both movies began in late 2022 and wrapped in early 2024, though it would’ve been completed earlier had it not been for the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
WHO’S IN IT?
Pretty much the entire cast of Wicked returns for Wicked: For Good, which makes sense since it’s the second half of the story and all the actors filmed the two movies at the same time. Cynthia Erivo reprises her role as Elphaba Thropp, the green-skinned student of Shiz University who became known as the Wicked Witch of the West when she spurned the corrupt Wizard offer to use her magic to help rule Oz. Ariana Grande once more plays Glinda Upland, the pop-u-lar young woman who was initially a rival to Elphaba before they became fast friends. While Elphaba left the Emerald City, a conflicted Glinda stayed behind, putting her on the opposite side of her dear friend. Both Ervio and Grande were nominated for Oscars (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively), for their performances in the first film.
Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the seemingly benevolent and whimsical ruler of Oz who is revealed to be a charlatan repressing the magical land’s talking animals. Michelle Yeoh plays Madame Morrible, the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz University who is working with the Wizard.
Jonathan Bailey plays Fiyero Tigelaar, the handsome and confident Winkie prince who has an unlikely bond with Elphaba. Marissa Bode plays Elphaba’s sister Nessarose, who uses a wheelchair, while Ethan Slater plays Boq Woodsman, a munchkin with an unrequited crush on Glinda. Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James return as two of Glinda’s friends.
An adaptation of the beloved Broadway play (which itself is based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, a revisionist prequel to L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), Wicked follows Elphaba and Glinda as they go to school, become unlikely friends, and become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. The plot of Wicked: For Good is hardly a secret; millions of people have seen the events play out on the stage over the past several decades. If you don’t know how the story ends and you want spoilers, they’re not hard to find. We’ll just leave you with the official synopsis that teases the upcoming action quite nicely, per Universal.
“Elphaba, now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard.
Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible, Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard.
As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.
As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.”
WILL THERE BE ANY CHANGES FROM THE PLAY?
The first Wicked covered the first act of the play, and it ended with “Defying Gravity,” an absolute show-stopper of a song and by far the play’s most iconic moment. It was a great way to end a movie but that’s potentially a problem for Wicked: For Good since the consensus is that Act I of the play is better than Act II. To that end, there are going to be a few additions to the story.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Chu suggested that Wicked: For Good would show more of what Elphaba is up to than the stage production did.
“I think anyone who knows the second act of the show wants a bit more of what Elphaba has been through,” he said. “It felt right to see what it feels like to lead that life, to go into ‘No Good Deed’ and decide You know what? If they want me to be wicked, I will be wicked. What kind of decisions does she make when she’s not within the Emerald City or participating in society as usual? We get to see her rebel base. We go there.”
Additionally, there are two new, original songs that will be added to the film. One is Elphaba’s with Erivo telling Variety that “the entire crew was in tears,” when they filmed her singing it, adding that it “speaks to the heart of who Elphaba is.” Grande’s Glinda sings the other one, which she told Variety “shows a side of her we’ve never seen before.”
The first trailer for Wicked: For Good was released on June 4. The fairly action-packed short teases a lot of scenes and songs that fans of the stage production are likely looking forward to, as well as a few of those new additions. For instance, Elphaba says “I’m off to see the Wizard,” an iconic Wizard of Oz line that is not in the play. And just yesterday, an official teaser with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo singing “Because I Knew You” was released (check out above video).
Additionally, there’s a poster, which was released in May. The poster has Elphaba and Glinda looking at each other on opposite cliffs with the yellow brick road between them and Emerald City in the distance.
Wicked: For Good lands in theaters November 21.
