WICKED: FOR GOOD TRAILER REVIEW

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Leeds chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Warning for spoilers ahead! 

I’ll admit, I was skeptical when I heard about the 2024 film adaptation of Wicked. The casting choice of Ariana Grande as the good witch, Glinda, left me unconvinced about the potential of this film, and at the time, I had not heard of Cynthia Erivo. Wicked is my ride or die Broadway musical, and having seen it four times on stage, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the first film. Both Cynthia and Ariana portrayed their respective characters exceptionally, bringing their characters to life in a way that felt fresh, whilst staying true to the original production.  

Splitting the two acts into separate films has allowed producers to take their time with the story, fleshing out the characters, and developing their meaningful relationships. Examples of this can be seen with Elphaba’s childhood with her sister Nessarose, the gathering of animals with Dr Dillamond, and the wizard introducing the concept of the Yellow Brick Road with Elphaba and Glinda. From the final trailer, we are teased with some thrilling new scenes, but more on that later.   

Now onto the final trailer (released September 24^th) announcing the film’s debut for November 21^st 2025. Be ready to book your tickets soon!  

For those unfamiliar with the story: this trailer reveals some major plot details. Last warning for spoilers… 

Ok, are you sure? 

Let’s dive in: the final trailer wastes no time in pulling us back into the world of Oz. Starting with a sneak at the first song of act two, ‘Thank Goodness’ – this being Glinda’s ‘Good Witch’ debut song to the people of Oz. Madame Morrible and the Wizard reinforce good and bad, showcasing Glinda as the true good and Elphaba as the bad, wicked witch of the west. We are also treated to more of Glinda’s bubble machines, something not explored in the Broadway production. The trailer gives us a look at more character development after their shared time at Shiz, Fiyero joining the Emerald City guard and hunting down Elphaba in response to the growing tension amongst the citizens. The Wizard really did give them a ‘Villain’ to fear.   

In my opinion, following ‘Thank Goodness’ for Glinda, ‘No Good Dead’ is an exceptionally powerful song for Elphaba and being able to see even a glimpse of Cynthia’s vocal skills in action for this song gave me chills. I honestly think this song will be my favorite part of the film, amongst many other viewers.  

We move past the childish squabbles at Shiz into a serious physical showdown between Elphaba and Glinda at the crash site of Dorothy’s house in Munchkinland. In the original production, this is a very short five-second tussle, but I wonder if this will be another scene they expand the time on, driving a greater wedge between the former friends.  

Ok, I think this is the most surprising reveal of the trailer… Elphaba and Fiyero’s love affair, which appears to be a lot more physical in this rendition than in the original. When Elphaba was describing her dream of Dorothy’s house in the tornado, I HAD to rewind, because guess who’s sitting in the corner with no shirt? Yes, it’s Fiyero! Later in the trailer, we see a snapshot of the two embracing whilst floating in a forest. From the first film, there were only brief looks between the two characters to allude to this type of connection, and then to reveal the affair in the trailer took me for a loop. Do you think it’s a mistake on the part of Universal Pictures? Or will there be even more to the relationship between these two characters in the film that we are unaware of? 

The characters from The Wizard of Oz seem to make a greater appearance in this trailer than in the first film. It drops the bomb on Boq’s fate as the Tin Man. From the first film, we can see that he has less than pure intentions towards Nessarose, driven by his infatuation with Glinda and partly by her manipulation of him. So, is this deserved? And for those of you who don’t know, who do you think turned him? We catch brief flashes of the cowardly lion, Dorothy and the Scarecrow as well.  

Nessarose also makes a short appearance dressed similarly to Elphaba in the first film, in all black, apart from some glowing ruby red slippers. If some of you didn’t catch the reference in the first film, the jewelled silver slippers that Mr. Thropp gifted his youngest daughter take a larger role in this second act.  

A new scene I am excited for is the failed wedding of Glinda and Fiyero. In the original production they don’t get as far as a wedding, and this raises a lot of questions. Why the added wedding scene? What would a wedding do for the people of Oz given the circumstances? And why does Elphaba gate crash with a stampede of all the imprisoned animals of Oz, surely there are better ways to stop a wedding? 

We also get to see the construction of the Yellow Brick Road, and from the look of the assembly, it hasn’t been kind to the surrounding environment. Elphaba coming to blows with guards on the road is also new; her not being quite so violent in the original, it seems she rather likes knocking guards over with her broom.  

I’m beyond excited for the second act to hit cinemas this November, I hope this trailer breakdown has you ready. I think this is going to be a highly emotional, epic conclusion. The vocal range of Ariana and Cythia has the greatest potential to make this film an award-winning masterpiece. November can’t come soon enough, mark your calendars and I’ll see you in Oz.  

Editor: Mieka Broadwood D’souza