It’s time to rejoicify, Wicked fans! Universal has released not just one — but two new trailers for the upcoming film! The second official trailer from Universal Pictures features vibrant visuals, amazing audio, and clear clues. The other new Wicked movie trailer is for international audiences outside of the U.S. It’s full of never-before-seen footage that gives viewers a greater glimpse into the story of Oz before Dorothy dropped in. These two trailers gave us so much to look forward to, but a couple of things grabbed our attention.
New ‘Wicked’ Trailers are Vastly Varying Videos
After watching both new trailers, it’s interesting to see the different approaches the Universal and Wicked teams took in promoting the movie to the different audiences. The second official trailer, which is the one on the official Wicked movie social media pages, really establishes the connection between Wicked and The Wizard of Oz.
Just in the first 20 seconds, it says “Discover everything that happened before Dorothy dropped in,” highlights the silver slippers (in a box lined with ruby red glitter), and shows us Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion walking down the Yellow Brick Road. Over two minutes remain in the Wicked trailer beyond that, so it’s clear that’s their hook for the American audience. Like, in case you didn’t already know, they want you to know this is the same universe.
Meanwhile, the new international trailer is more of a traditional movie trailer, previewing what the plot and conflicts of the movie may be beyond Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) being seen as a wicked witch. Though some may argue it’s giving too much away, showing the conflict surrounding Doctor Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) and animals in Oz is a good preview for what actually is coming to theaters this November: part one of the movie — not the whole Wicked film. But more on Dillamond and that new footage later!
Pink Goes Good with Green!
If you’ve seen any of the Wicked promos, from posters to videos to T-shirts, you know pink and green are the colors of the film because they’re Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba’s signature colors. So it’s so fun, fitting, and on-brand to see the Universal Pictures logo decked out in pink and green. It’s even all over their social media pages!
‘Wicked’ Trailer Hits All the Right Notes
The newest Wicked trailers feature the most music from the movie musical of any other promotional videos Universal has released so far. We hear Glinda and Elphaba sing the Wicked song of all Wicked songs, “Defying Gravity.” We’ve definitely heard it in pretty much every other trailer, trailer and promo video, but not in the same capacity. It’s not just the riff at the end of the video. It’s Glinda and Elphaba singing about being unlimited. (No, the song actually isn’t 100% Elphaba.) It’s Elphaba belting and essentially not caring if people are after her. Both trailers feature beautiful “Defying Gravity” instrumentals as well.
Finding Familiar Figures
One of the new scenes revealed in both Wicked movie trailers is when Elphaba and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) are with a lion cub. First, we see the little lion in Elphaba’s bike basket, and then we see Elphaba letting the cub go in the wild. In the international trailer, the same lion is seen in Doctor Dillamond’s Shiz University classroom, uncovered and revealed to be in a cage. (Did we not recently tell you Fiyero has significant scenes outdoors and to pay attention to the background items in Dillamond’s character poster?) Now if you’re thinking about the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, that’s precisely the idea.
What else did we identify and analyze in these new Wicked trailers? The silver slippers. We’ve discussed why they’re silver and not ruby before, so this isn’t the first time we’ve seen them. But it is the first time we’re seeing them without Dorothy. The slippers are notably in a sparkling red-lined box, which is sitting on someone’s lap. That’s all we’ll say. But if you know The Wizard of Oz, you know those slippers aren’t Dorothy’s.
Young Elphaba Returns in International ‘Wicked’ Trailer
Speaking of a young girl, we first saw a young Elphaba (Karis Musongole) in the first official Wicked movie trailer released in May. She isn’t in the second official trailer, but she is in the new international Wicked trailer, and we love that! The first time we saw her, the young Elphie didn’t do much. She was just there as an adult Elphaba recalled memories. But this time we see the scene she was remembering.
It’s no secret Elphaba has been teased, mocked, and made fun of. And it’s definitely no surprise that happened to her as a child. The international trailer’s new footage shows what may be one of the earliest times Elphaba used magic, as she levitated rocks from the ground when she was upset at kids laughing at her.
Scenes of Sorcery
Speaking of magic, we got to see a lot more of it in both of the new Wicked trailers. The clip of floating flowers has been in some past featurettes, but the international trailer shows a bit of an extended version of that. Elphaba becomes emotional in the classroom, and suddenly a bouquet of flowers falls to a desk. They begin floating in an orderly, upright fashion while students begin to fall over in their seats. In the second official trailer during the lion cub scene with Fiyero, we see a chunk of a building falling to the ground, seemingly caused by Elphaba.
Last but definitely not least is something known as The Grimmerie, which is an Ozian spellbook. It’s the brown pentagon Elphaba’s seen carrying a few times in the palace in Emerald City. The second official Wicked trailer gives us a glimpse of it in action when Elphaba is reading it, and it comes to life, wings flapping and pages moving.
The Goat in the Room
Until the recent release of the character posters, Wicked promo hardly — if at all — included Shiz University’s goat professor, Doctor Dillamond. If you want to know more about Dillamond and his role in the story of Elphaba and Glinda, the new international Wicked trailer is for you. We learn and see so much about the goat. He’s one of the few animal instructors left at Shiz. An ominous, threatening message about animals is on the back of his chalkboard. (Don’t say we didn’t mention it!) Shortly after, the lion cub makes an appearance in the classroom, and we see Elphaba and Fiyero bring it to the wild. Before the trailer’s end, Ozian officials take Doctor Dillamond away to who knows where. Coincidence? We think — actually, we know — not.
Cinematic Callbacks
Considering Wicked is in the same universe as the American legend that is The Wizard of Oz, it’s no surprise there are references to the 1939 movie. We’re sure there are way more, but we found a few in these new trailers.
As far as we know, animals aren’t typically in baskets in Oz, but when Elphaba and Fiyero are riding bikes to take the lion cub into the wild, where is the lion? In a little basket! Just like how Dorothy’s dog, Toto, was in a little wicker basket. Speaking of bikes, Elphaba’s bike is pretty similar to the one Miss Gulch rides on when she transforms into the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
We thought it was well known, but some say it’s rare: There’s an image of the Wicked Witch’s hand’s forming a creepy shadow onto a wall from a screen test for the 1939 film. There’s no denying the shadow of Elphaba’s hand in the scene with her and Madame Morrible looks just like it.
Part one of the Wicked movie hits theaters Nov. 22.
