Wicked was among the biggest box office hits of 2024, and the second movie is shaping up to be just as popular, but a threequel isn’t as easy to do. The sequel will take place exactly where the first movie ended, with Elphaba facing off against the Wizard as he attempts to turn the entirety of Oz against her. It’s been teased that Wicked: For Good will be a darker movie than the first, exploring a more mature side of Elphaba’s character that some hardcore fans of the franchise may recognize from Gregory Maguire’s original novelizations of Wicked.

There’s been lots of discourse surrounding the possibility of Wicked 3, with interest turning to alternate versions of this story to seek inspiration for what a potential third movie in this cinematic franchise could be about. Jon M. Chu’s musical spectacle is a clear adaptation of the Broadway production of the same name, and while Wicked: For Good is supposed to end where that stage play ends, there’s every possibility that the director has a more extensive future for this series planned.

The Wicked Musical Never Got A Sequel — But The Wicked Book Did

There Are 4 Books In Maguire’s Novel Series

Although Jon M. Chu’s movie primarily draws inspiration from the Broadway musical of the same name, that’s not the only place where this story exists. The narrative was first penned by Gregory Maguire in his novel, which offers a much darker and grittier interpretation of the story. Wicked‘s Broadway production then made this lighter and more palatable for general audiences with the fun songs and bright costumes, and that’s the version that eventually made its way into Chu’s film. However, the director has never claimed that his adaptation is strictly going to follow Broadway’s rules.

Eventually, three sequels were made to Maguire’s original novel. These are completely unrelated to the Broadway show, and they adopt a more adult-focused, revisionist approach to L. Frank Baum’s iconic world. Although they deal with the same characters from Wicked, these sequels are totally different from both Chu’s movie and the Broadway show. As the first book ultimately catches up with the timeline of The Wizard of Oz, Maguire’s sequel books take place after this story and explore what happens to Oz after Elphaba’s death and the downfall of the Wizard.

Wicked 3 Could Focus On Elphaba’s Son

Elphaba’s Son In The Protagonist Of Maguire’s Sequels

The main difference between Maguire’s Wicked and the sequel books is that Elphaba dies at the end of the former. While it’s implied that Elphaba survives in the Broadway musical (and likely Chu’s film), her fate is more ambiguous in Maguire’s works. He leaves it mostly up to the reader’s interpretation, and the sequels don’t follow her character at all – instead, they focus on her son, Liir. The second book (тιтled “Son of a Witch) explores Liir’s attempts to regain his memories of Elphaba and discover the truth about his parentage.

“Son of a Witch” also includes a character named Nor, who is the daughter of Fiyero and the half-sister of protagonist Liir. Their dynamic is the driving force of this sequel, and if Jon M. Chu does indeed decide to make Wicked 3, Liir and Nor should be the characters at the center of it. Fiyero’s ending in Wicked, much like Elphaba’s, leaves little room for these characters to return in the future. However, their children’s stories are filled with possibilities. It would only make sense for Wicked 3 to pᴀss the torch to these characters.

Wicked 3 Would Need To Really Diverge From The Book

It’s Too Late For The Wicked Movies To Switch To Maguire’s Literary Universe

If Chu’s Wicked franchise does go down this route, there would be many differences from Maguire’s original works. The first movie has already diverged mᴀssively from the novel, opting instead to adhere to the continuity of the Broadway production. This would make it difficult for Wicked 3 to then shift to Maguire’s storytelling, as it’s so noticeably different. Chu would need to somehow blend these two versions of Wicked together (or try something else entirely) to make it work.

The main problem with turning “Son of a Witch” into Wicked 3 is that there are so many different versions of this story already. There’s Baum’s original The Wizard of Oz, there’s Maguire’s revisionist novels with whole new characters and storylines, and then there’s Winnie Holzman’s stage play which adopts features from both. As of Wicked: For Good, Chu’s universe is a pretty obvious adaptation of Holzman’s Wicked, but if it continued introducing aspects from Maguire’s sequels, it would become something else altogether — a fourth version of this existing story.

Should There Be A Wicked 3 At All?

The Idea Of A Wicked 3 Betrays The Broadway Show’s Ending

In the end, it’s better not to converge these different versions of Wicked for a clearer movie version of the story. They all exist for different purposes — the stage production is more of a companion piece to The Wizard of Oz, while Maguire’s novels feel like a more distinct universe with a different audience in mind. Yes, there are differences between the Wicked movie and the play, but Chu’s movie is inspired most strongly by the Broadway production. The filmmaker should stick with this approach, giving his movies the ending that already works for these versions of the characters.

Additionally, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are the biggest strengths of Wicked, and their marketing for the original film was a huge contributor to its commercial success. Making Wicked 3 without them feels like a strange decision that would only hurt the sequel’s chances. “Son of a Witch” leaves very little room for Elphaba and Glinda. At that point, it wouldn’t feel like a third movie at all, but rather a spin-off that focuses on totally new characters. While Wicked was already popular before it was adapted, the filmmakers also still need to consider the moviegoers’ investment in the franchise.

Ultimately, the Wicked Broadway production was made with a specific ending in mind. It focuses on the romance between Elphaba and Fiyero (much like Chu’s movie), the dissolution of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda (also like Chu’s movie), and the corrupt political state of Oz (similarly, like Chu’s movie). It wouldn’t make sense to adapt all these crucial elements of the stage show and not weave them together into the existing ending that’s tailor-made to pay off these emotional threads.