The final trailer for Wicked: For Good has been released, and it reveals plenty of key details that give audiences a clear idea of where this story is heading in the next installment. More specifically, it offers a more in-depth look at Elphaba and Glinda’s complicated dynamic in the second film, which is going to be a lot more volatile as the stakes continue to get higher.
The friendship between Elphaba and Glinda is the most compelling part of Wicked by far. All the connections to The Wizard of Oz are fun (and they’re even more present in this trailer), but it’s these two characters who ultimately steal the screen. Although I was concerned that Wicked 2 would change this, the new trailer has given me more confidence.
Wicked 2’s New Trailer Finally Shows Elphaba & Glinda Fighting
Although Wicked is ultimately a story about friendship and forgiveness, there are many obstacles in the way before Elphaba and Glinda can get back to the place they were in the first movie. The ending of Wicked saw Glinda reject Elphaba’s promise of freedom and rebellion, choosing instead to remain in the Emerald City and work with the Wizard.
While Elphaba understood the motivation behind Glinda’s decision, this ending caused a major schism in their friendship that needs to be explored in Wicked 2. And yet, the promotional materials haven’t been showing this; instead, all we’ve seen is Elphaba and Glinda meeting in secret and plotting to bring down the Wizard.
This is a major jump, and Wicked 2‘s latest trailer has finally given audiences a more comprehensive picture of what Elphaba and Glinda’s dynamic will look like in the sequel. As Glinda happily integrates into her new life as the Emerald City’s favorite witch, she faces criticism from all sides for her betrayal of Elphaba.
The first half of the trailer leans heavily into Glinda’s role as the Wizard’s puppet, showing how she accepts her position as the “Good Witch” without any complaints simply because of the status and fame that come with it. It’s easy to view Glinda as a victim of the Wizard’s oppressive regime, but the trailer makes it very clear that’s not the case.
This is Glinda’s fatal flaw: she needs to be adored, and she’ll stop at nothing to maintain her public image. This is ultimately why she rejected Elphaba’s helping hand during “Defying Gravity,” and Wicked 2‘s latest trailer proves that Elphaba won’t be so quick to forgive her old friend for the propaganda she’s been spreading.
There’s a sharp confrontation between Elphaba and Glinda in the Wicked 2 trailer that seemingly takes place in Munchkinland, where Elphaba calls Glinda out for lying to the public and smearing her reputation. This is exactly the conflict that needs to happen in Wicked 2 before the two friends can ultimately reconcile.
Getting confirmation that Wicked: For Good is going to lean into the rivalry between Elphaba and Glinda (at least in the beginning) is a big relief. This means that Wicked 2‘s musical numbers like “For Good” and “No Good Deed” will carry a lot more emotional weight, as the film will have pushed these characters even further apart before bringing them back together again.
Wicked 2 Needs To Make Glinda Earn Her Redemption
The reason Wicked is such a compelling story is that neither of these characters is perfect, but they bring out the best in each other. Elphaba is brash, overconfident, and doesn’t always think about the consequences of her actions; Glinda is vain, self-absorbed, and puts way too much thought into everything she does.
And still, while both characters have their own flaws, it’s Glinda who ends up hurting Elphaba the most because of her complicity in the Wizard’s corrupt regime and slanderous propaganda. She damages Elphaba’s reputation beyond repair, and even celebrates her death with the rest of Oz in Wicked‘s flash-forward prologue.
These aren’t actions that Elphaba can just forgive, and Wicked 2 equally can’t brush past them before reconciling the two characters at the end of the sequel. There needs to be some major character development before this can happen, potentially in Glinda’s new song, which is тιтled “Girl in the Bubble.”
This solo musical number will hopefully give audiences a clearer understanding of what Glinda is going through in Wicked: For Good, explaining why she made the choices she did and demonstrating the guilt that she feels over them. With the added runtime in comparison to the Broadway show, there’s plenty of room to make Glinda more redeemable.
“For Good” is one of Wicked‘s best musical numbers, but it only works because the two characters have gone through so much development and change since we first met them. They both acknowledge that their friendship has potentially been fractured forever, but they can still see the good in each other and manage to forgive. It’s hardly a fairy tale ending, but it’s a powerful one.
