Did you Know Elphaba Died in the Book?
Fun fact about the original novel that inspired the Broadway musical: in that version, Elphaba is allergic to water, and thus actually dies at the end. However, in the Broadway version, the ending is changed to Elphaba having faked her death before she and Fiyero, now transformed into the Scarecrow, leave Oz for a place where appearances won’t judge them. To no one’s surprise, the film follows the same route. It might seem sudden, but to its credit, Wicked: For Good manages to drop hints foreshadowing this outcome.
What was surprising, was what Jonathan Bailey looks like turned into the Scarecrow. More than a few people have been saying on social media that he looks like Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, but before he got the mutation. And they’re absolutely right. He looks like a younger Ryan Reynolds, and it’s distracting. But at least Elphaba and Fiyero get their happy ending. However, I still have one issue with this: Glinda doesn’t know they’re alive.
In the stage musical, Elphaba and Fiyero never let Glinda, their closest friend, know that they’re alive. I can at least tolerate that Elphaba will be unfairly remembered as a monster for reasons I will get into. However, I cannot abide by the fact that they can’t let Glinda know, even indirectly, that they’re alive and free. Now Glinda will spend the rest of her life feeling guilty and alone over what happened, and I don’t think that’s fair for her. Especially given how the film fixes the biggest issue with the musical version: saving the Animals.
The Animals get their freedom back!
As I said before, the musical failed to resolve the issue of the oppression of Animals. Thankfully, Jon M. Chu and the screenwriters fix what I think is the biggest flaw to Wicked. In the film’s finale, as Glinda is speaking to the people of Munchkinland, she says that she wants to help all the people of Oz, including the Animals. In a scene that Elphaba would be rejoicifying over if she could be present, Glinda ends the persecution of Animals. Those who left in exile return. The ones who were enslaved and caged are set free. We even get to see Dr. Dillamond, who could no longer speak, get his job back at Shiz University, with the implication being that he’ll soon be able to talk again. Even better, the Flying Monkeys get pardoned and the pleasure of throwing Madame Morrible in prison where she belongs.
This…this is what I wanted to see in Wicked. Elphaba may not get to see it for herself after going into exile, but she won. Glinda made sure that Elphaba won. And while people may yet remember her as wicked and the Wizard as good, the dark legacy of Oscar Diggs will eventually fade away into a bad memory, as all bad memories should. I’d consider that a win, and Elphaba will get to enjoy her life free alongside Fiyero…and their child.
Oh, yeah. Elphie has a kid in the books
Spoilers for the Greg Maguire Tetraology of novels. While Elphaba does die in the first book, it’s not before she and Fiyero consumate their relationship and she gives birth to a son, Liir. Liir, in turn, goes on to have a daughter, Rain, who inherits her grandmother’s magical powers. It may just be headcanon here, but there’s a chance that Elphie and Fiyero’s night together was enough for them to conceive a child. And while the first Wizard of Oz and Wicked are the most well-known in their series, there are more books in each of them. Three sequels for Wicked and a spin-off trilogy about Rain’s adventures abroad, and thirty-nine sequels to the original book by L. Frank Baum. In other words, there’s plenty of material to be had.
It may not look like a good idea in hindsight, but what if Wicked: For Good isn’t the end for the franchise? With the runaway success of the films, this might encourage Hollywood to do something crazy and start adapting the rest of the works of Oz. It’s crazy, and it could backfire in the long run, but it’s a possibility.
What a Story! What a Movie! Wicked: For Good was so Good!
So, now we find ourselves at the end of this incredibly long, winding, and occasionally confusifying ramble that I’m calling a review. If you’re wondering what possessed me to write something so monstrously large, it was for the love of the game. I love Wicked. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, and it was on my bucket list to see it performed live. But I managed to get something better with these movies. Something that I doubt is going to be forgotten about for a long, long time. I foresee the cast of the films getting more job offers in the near future, as well, and they deserve it. Maybe a few years from now, we’ll see the films preserved in the Library of Congress alongside the film that inspired it all, The Wizard of Oz. As for me, this will be one of those stories that I hope to never forget about. Thank you, Elphaba and Glinda, for teaching us all what it means to be good, and what it means to be wicked.
