Wicked serves as the first part of the film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, it is based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel that reimages the characters from The Wizard of Oz books and films. Maguire's book suggested events that might have shaped the characters in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".
Baum's book inspired the 1939 Hollywood classic starring Judy Garland, "The Wizard of Oz". Now, the movie starring Ariana Grande is full of Easter eggs and references to the 1939 movie that should delight all Broadway fans. So here's what you need to know about The Wizard of Oz before watching Wicked: Part One.
In the 1939 movie, Dorothy Gale, played by Judy Garland, is an orphaned young woman growing up on her aunt and uncle's farm. She runs away when a local woman's complaint that Dorothy's dog Toto bit her.
Convinced to return home, Dorothy arrives mid-tornado, ant is hit in the head. The house appears to lift into the storm's funnel. Depositing her in a new world. She's enveloped in a tragedy: Her house has killed the Wicked witch of the East, and her sister, the Wicked witch of the West, vows for revenge.
Desiring to return to home, Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick road to Esmerald City, and the Wizard, who she understands, holds the key to her return home.
The story explores their paths: how Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) becomes evil, while her best friend, Glinda, becomes Glinda the Good. Throughout "Wicked", characters and scenes often contains references to the 1939 film. Starting with the hat on the water and the Witch's killers marching off to Esmerald City.
In the movie, Elphaba does have a sister, but there is no mention in the Oz film, except for her legs sticking out from under the house.
The Wizard, portrayed by Jeff Goldblum, enlist Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda (Ariana Grande) to help him decide on a color for the super-sidewalk that will thread throughout Oz that he's building.
The director Jon M. Chu confirmed the film is split in two parts, with a year separating the two movies. Which reflects the original musical that inspired it and the way the act break in the play splinters the story.
Wicked: Part One is entirely focused on this portion of the story, and ends at the same point that Act 1 of the original musical did. As many Broadway shows, the pause in between serves as a changing tone and a time leap.
While part one does briefly tease the ending of the story and reveals the specifics of Elphaba's childhood, most of the movie is centered around the young women as the grow and make the fateful choices that set up their fates in Wicked: Part two.
According to Forbes, Wicked: Part 2 is set to premiere in theaters on November 21, 2025. Almost exactly one year after the first film release.
