Wicked: For Good is coming in November 2025, and presents even bigger opportunities to change and expand upon the Broadway musical than the first half, which was released to a mᴀssive reception last year. Led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera as the future Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively, Wicked would seem to have done almost nothing wrong, considering its box office numbers, critical acclaim, and Oscar nominations. However, it was at least interesting that this installment telling one half of the story is almost as long as the entire musical.

Wicked‘s ending sets up its second part, where Elphaba is vilified as the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) enemy to mask the fact that she is only attempting to fight injustice. However, the stage version of Wicked 2‘s story has always left out a significant amount of Elphaba’s actual crusade. 2024’s Wicked included a few new scenes, but still largely followed the plot of the musical’s first act, sometimes making people wonder where that extra runtime even went. However, this does suggest that bigger changes will happen in the next movie, and one in particular is vital to Elphaba’s character and the story’s biggest themes.

Wicked: For Good Should Definitely Show Elphaba Actually Helping Oz’s Animals

What Elphaba Has Been Doing This Whole Time Is Supposed To Be Really Important

Elphaba going on the run and becoming the Wicked Witch of the West is mostly motivated by her desire to help the talking animals of Oz, and her refusal to condone or ignore the Wizard and Madame Morrible’s (Michelle Yeoh) campaign to oppress them. In “Wonderful,” the Wizard’s big musical number in Wicked‘s second act, he argues that he is simply being what the people of Oz want him to be, but this ideology falls flat when he is not just being a positive public figure but actually hurting others.

Elphaba seemingly takes off with the broad but solid goals of ending the Wizard’s reign and helping the animals. In the musical, there are some references to Elphaba ferrying animals to safety, helping them evade capture during the time she is an outlaw. A line in the song “Thank Goodness” suggests that Elphaba is consorting with “rebel animals,” subtly revealing how the animals’ position in Oz has further deteriorated in the intervening time since the end of the first act. But actually showing these events in the movie would provide a more tangible narrative.

On stage, the only time we really see Elphaba directly aiding the animals she advocates for is when she returns to the Emerald City to free the Wizard’s monkey army — with the additional motivation of maybe wanting to stop Glinda and Fiyero’s (Jonathan Bailey in the movie) wedding. In pᴀssing, Elphaba also tries to encourage one of the monkeys to talk again, without much success. Overall, this storyline in the musical is used as a way to reinforce Elphaba’s moral standing, but it always takes a backseat to the plot of the interpersonal relationships.

Wicked Can Showcase How Oz’s Animal Population Views The Wicked Witch Entirely Differently

The Wicked Witch Of The West Is A Narrative Directed At Only Part Of Oz

Also what is seen on stage and in the first Wicked movie is that, supposedly, the entire average population of Oz is terrified of Elphaba and has completely bought into the propaganda of her “wickedness” designed to protect the Wizard. This depiction is important to convey that the majority of the country, or at least the part of society that holds more power, does believe it, which makes things endlessly dangerous for Elphaba. However, while all this is happening, the animals are continuing to lose their rights and ability to speak.

If some animals are also on the run for protesting and Elphaba is the only one willing to help, they would have an entirely different perspective on her. It would provide Wicked 2 with further nuance if it showed on-screen the state of the animal community trying to survive the current regime and how, when this regime has done nothing to help them, they are not blindly accepting what they are told. When the animals are also being hunted, it doesn’t help Elphaba much in the way of safety, but they could make it clear that this system exploits many, not just her.

Elphaba Wanting To Help The Animal Population Is Supposed To Be The Whole Point

Wicked’s Socio-Political Storyline Is Reflected Upon The Animals

Wicked alludes to real histories and socio-political issues by engaging with themes of propaganda, oppression, and privilege, and invokes the animals’ plight to show how the corrupt government has decided to abuse one part of the population to benefit another, which reaps the most benefit for the people at the top. Elphaba has connected with the animals she meets her whole life when she has also been ostracized for being different. Her difficult upbringing has prompted her to be more thoughtful about the circumstances she lives in, so when she sees injustice, she doesn’t accept it.

Tying Elphaba’s character development to her friendship with Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) and sympathy for the cause he fights for lends weight to her character, but it does come across as somewhat superficial when the story clearly wants to keep the focus on her. She is, after all, the main character and the entire premise in the reimagining of this iconic villain. But the animals storyline is what is supposed to show Wicked and Elphaba engaging with bigger issues, which is why it has always been odd that it is mostly a subplot in the musical.

Wicked’s Movie Has Already Done A Decent Job Of Expanding The Animals Storyline

The Source Material Provides Limited Opportunities, But 2024’s Wicked Highlighted Animal Characters

It is admittedly tricky to expand upon this storyline when the plot is structured around the human characters, and Elphaba and Glinda are certainly the most popular and the ones viewers identify with. However, the first Wicked movie did a decent job of giving the animals more of a presence, even if keeping the story streamlined meant that they were relegated to supporting roles. Dr. Dillamond’s character is taken more seriously, and he is shown talking about what is happening to other animals, rather than just Elphaba.

The filmmakers also made the Nanny character of the Wicked novel into Dulcibear (Sharon D. Clarke), who bolsters the backstory of how Elphaba came to see the world the way she does by establishing a very important figure in her young life who is an animal — basically, the only loving parent she had. The animal staff surrounding the Thropp family also gives a greater sense of how animals appeared in this society before the main timeline, when things are really starting to fall apart.

The band at the Ozdust Ballroom is also a minor but valuable moment in the movie, showing a not-entirely legal space that flourishes outside the unjust law, in which animals are the lifeblood of the party as they show off their musical talent. It seems most likely that Wicked: For Good will deliver more small side moments like this that bring the picture of the animals’ lives into clearer focus. However, they may yet still opt for some more drastic, important changes.