Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Wicked: For Good
Wicked: For Good is now playing in theaters, featuring some truly wonderful Easter eggs and references. Continuing the story of Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda Upland (Ariana Grande-Butera), Wicked: For Good is chock-full of epic callbacks and ties not only to Wicked: Part One, but also the original stage show, book, and 1939's The Wizard of Oz.
Just like in the first movie, the attention to detail in Wicked: For Good is all kinds of impressive. While this list won't feature every single reprise, parallel, and callback (there are so many!), here are 20 of the biggest and best Easter eggs, references, and ties we found in Wicked: For Good.
Wicked: For Good's Title Card Mirrors Part One (Nodding To “The Wizard of Oz”)
Just like in 2024's Wicked: Part One, the opening title card for Wicked: For Good is set in the same font as 1939's The Wizard of Oz, a wonderful callback to one of the most legendary Hollywood movies of all time.
A Rainbow During Glinda’s Childhood
Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz sings 'Over the Rainbow'
A key flashback to Glinda's childhood confirms she's always had a desire to be magical, receiving a magic wand as a birthday gift. Unable to cast spells herself, Glinda ends up taking credit for a rainbow that has coincidentally emerged outside. Of course, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is one of the most famous songs sung by Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz.
Alice Fearn As Glinda’s Mother
Briefly featured in Wicked: Part One alongside Glinda's father, aka "Popsicle", her mother (played by Alice Fearn) gets a somewhat larger role in Glinda's childhood flashback. Previously, Alice Fearn played Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked from 2017 to 2019.
The Gale Force
Wicked: For Good Fiyero in his green suit
Wicked: For Good reveals that Fiyero has been made captain of "The Gale Force", the Wizard's secret police tasked with hunting down Elphaba.
A fitting name considering Madame Morrible's ability to control the weather, combined with Dorothy's last name, The Gale Force was not a name used in the original Wicked stage show, but instead comes from the original Wicked novel by author Gregory Maguire.
Our Wizard Lies
Crashing the Yellow Brick Road ceremony, Elphaba writes in the clouds, "Our Wizard Lies". This is some major foreshadowing to the Wicked Witch's future sky message seen in The Wizard of OZ: "Surrender Dorothy."
"Blending With Foliage”
Pursued by Fiyero and the Gale Force, Elphaba is shown hiding behind a group of tree branches. This is a solid callback to Fiyero and Elphaba's first meeting in Wicked: Part One in the woods, and Fiyero's joke comment that she "must have blended in with the foliage" after nearly trampling her with his horse.
“No Place Like Home”
Elphaba singing No Place Like Home in Wicked: For Good
One of two brand-new Wicked songs written by original composer Stephen Schwartz, Elphaba's new song "No Place Like Home" speaks to her desire to fight for Oz despite being ostracized, while trying to convince the animals to stay and help her fight back. Naturally, it's also the classic phrase said by Dorothy Gale at the end of The Wizard of Oz to get back home in Kansas.
Nessa’s Striped Socks
The Wizard of Oz Dorothy is the wicked witch of the east
Approached by her sister in Munchkinland, Nessarose reveals she's wearing her signature silver slippers as well as a pair of striped socks
Nessa’s Slippers Changing Color
Nessarose floating in Wicked: For Good
Nessa's slippers are silver rather than ruby, as silver was their original color in the original Wizard of Oz book by Frank L. Baum (the movie's switch to ruby was to show off the new advancements in Technicolor better).
However, Wicked: For Good sees the slippers glowing red after Elphaba casts her spell to make Nessa feel "lighter than air", just like she did with Boq on the night of the Ozdust, paying homage to both the movie and the book simultaneously.
“I’m Off To See The Wizard”
After saving Boq from Nessa's spell (transforming him into the Tin Man), Elphaba tells her sister that she's "off to see the Wizard", a callback to the classic song from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz", sung by Dorothy and her companions.
Cracked Windows
“Fly Monkeys!”/Cackle
The Wizard of Oz flying monkeys
There are two peak moments where Cynthia Erivo channels The Wizard of Oz's Margaret Hamilton, the original Wicked Witch of the West actress. Not only does her energy while freeing the Wizard's winged monkeys match Hamilton's in The Wizard of Oz when she similarly tells them to "Fly!", but she also gives a perfect Hamilton-worthy cackle while fighting Glinda in Munchkinland.
Animals Behind The Wizard’s Painting
Elphaba discovers countless caged animals behind a painting of the Wizard in Wicked: For Good, a callback to Wicked: Part One, when Elphaba's powers revealed the original Shiz University mural of animals covered by a newer depiction of the Wizard.
"These Things Must Be Done Delicately"
A closeup of The Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz
Madame Morrible repeats the same line originally said by Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, right before the Wizard's press secretary summons a cyclone (resulting in the death of Nessa).
Elphaba In The Storm
In 1939's The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale sees Miss Almira Gulch turn into the Wicked Witch of the West while her house is spinning through the air in the middle of the cyclone. Sure enough, Elphaba is shown flying through the same storm to reach her sister in Wicked: For Good.
Silhouettes
Although some audience members may have wished otherwise, Dorothy Gale's face is never shown in Wicked: For Good.
Likewise, Dorothy's "melting" of the Wicked Witch is shown only via silhouettes and from the perspective of Glinda hiding in a nearby closet. This is meant to mirror how Elphaba's defeat is depicted in Wicked's original stage show on Broadway, with Dorothy only being shown off-stage and with shadows.
There's another great use of shadows earlier in the movie during Glinda and Elphaba's confrontation in Munchkinland, right after Dorothy was sent down the Yellow Brick Road.
Not only does their wand and broomstick duel mirror their fencing during Wicked: Part One's "What Is This Feeling?", but there's a truly great shot of their shadows on the Yellow Brick Road, providing the iconic profiles of both The Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.
Elphaba Melting via Trap Door
The wicked witch melting scene in the wizard of oz
Using a trap door below her feet to sell her "demise" by being melted by water, Elphaba is revealed to be alive and well once Fiyero comes back for her (as the Scarecrow). Similarly, a secret door beneath her feet was how The Wizard of Oz depicted the melting of Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch ("What a world, what a world!").
Chistery Speaks – Dee Bradley Baker
Flying Monkey in Wicked
Near the ending of Wicked: For Good, Chistery, the captain of the flying monkey guard, finally speaks to Glinda.
The credits for the movie reveal that Chistery was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, a classic voice artist known for countless roles including Phineas and Ferb's Perry the Platypus, Avatar: The Last Airbender's Appa and Momo, as well as every single animated clone trooper in the Star Wars franchise.
Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible in Wicked
Taking control of Oz's restoration following Elphaba's demise and the Wizard's departure, Glinda promises that Madame Morrible will have her pick of cages to be locked up in, though doubting if she'll be able to handle a new life behind bars: "I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will."
Glinda's words echo what Madame Morrible herself once told her at the Ozdust, having been convinced by Elphaba to let Glinda join her magic seminar, doubting that she possessed the ability to actually wield magic. As we see in one of Wicked: For Good's very last scenes, it very much looks like Glinda has finally unlocked her magical potential, having finally committed herself to Oz as Glinda the Good.
Final Shot Homages The Original Stage Show Broadway Poster
Wicked broadway poster
Having determined that Glinda will have an easier time restoring Oz than she ever will, Elphaba leaves for "the place beyond Oz" with Fiyero after faking her death.
However, we get one last reprise of "For Good" with Elphaba in the desert and Glinda on a balcony in Oz to close out the movie. However, there is also a shot flashing back to their time at school with Fiyero, Boq, and Nessa.
