The ‘Wicked: For Good’ Trailer Raises the Stakes and the Questions
by Chris Peterson
Okay, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t ready to get emotional this morning. But then the Wicked: For Good trailer dropped, and here I am, spiraling over Glinda in a wedding dress(I have a feeling I know how that’s being used and it’s going to WRECK me) and Elphaba soaring through a sky that finally looks big enough to hold her.
Look, trailers can be deceiving, but this one got me. We’re clearly picking up right where we left off. But this isn’t just a Wizard of Oz rehash. It looks like it’s about the fallout. The choices they made. The legacy they leave. The people they’ve become.
Cynthia Erivo’s “No Good Deed” is already haunting. Ariana Grande finally getting to deliver “For Good” with all the polish and power of a pop princess who also happens to know her way around a Broadway score? Goosebumps. And yes, it seems we’re getting some new music tailored to each character, which gives me hope they’re treating this as more than just Part Two. They’re giving it its own arc.
And for anyone who thinks I’m jumping the gun on this, I already ranked Wicked: Part One as the second greatest movie musical of the last 25 years. So no, I don’t need convincing. I just need a ticket.
But now that we’ve seen a glimpse of what’s next, a few questions are bubbling up. Not in a nitpicky way, but because I care about this story and want to see it fully realized.
Let’s talk about Dorothy. I was surprised to see her in the trailer at all, considering how off-stage she’s kept in the original stage version. But now that she’s here, I’m curious how much the iconic girl from Kansas is going to be in this.
Also, just how much of Act 2 are they expanding for the film? There’s a lot of ground to cover — political shifts, public opinion, heartbreak, redemption — and I’m wondering if we’re about to get a deeper dive into Oz’s unraveling than we ever got on stage.
The visuals are rich. The tone feels heavier. And dare I say it? This feels like the movie that might finally shut up the “you can’t split a musical into two parts” crowd.
And we know that Universal is going to be pushing hard for this movie to win some Oscars, so expect a marketing campaign to end all marketing campaigns.
I know we still have months to wait, but if the first trailer is any indication, Wicked: For Good isn’t just a continuation. It might be the payoff of a lifetime.