Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba Thropp faces off against the Wizard of Oz, played by Jeff Goldblum, with the help of Ariana Grande’s Glinda Upland in the second trailer of Jon M. Chu’s upcoming musical fantasy Wicked, also featuring Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey.
Dropped by Universal Pictures on Wednesday, the three-minute-32-second-long trailer shows Ariana narrating Elphaba’s story. “Fellow Ozians, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead,” Ariana, sporting the Good Witch’s signature pink ball gown, says.
Following her encounter with the Wizard of Oz, Elphaba, who has always been misunderstood by people because of her green skin colour, starts getting viewed by others as their enemy. With everyone turning their back on her and Glinda, the two rival-turned-friends team up for their magical adventures in order to fulfil their destinies as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively.
The video also shows Michelle Yeoh’s headmistress Madame Morrible lauding Elphaba when she unwittingly shatters a mirror with her magical powers. The subsequent scenes show Elphaba embarking on a magical ride with Glinda, and honing her powers in order to defeat the evil wizard.
The trailer is set to Ariana and Cynthia singing Defying Gravity, the signature song from the 2003 Broadway musical version of Wicked.
In the trailer, Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba shares a palpable chemistry with Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero, a former prince-turned-chieftain from the Winkie Country, who attends Shiz University. “I don’t cause commotions. I am one,” Elphaba tells Fiyero during one of their cosy moments in the trailer.
The trailer also gives a first-look at Ethan Slater’s Boq and Marissa Bode’s Nessarose.
Adapted from Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz’s eponymous Broadway musical based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch, Wicked chronicles the events prior to Dorothy’s arrival in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part film series. While the first part will premiere on Thanksgiving Day on November 28, the second part is slated to hit theatres on November 26, 2025.
