After two movies, two TV specials and tons of merch, we still want more Wicked! Specifically, we wouldn’t mind more music. The second Wicked film, Wicked: For Good, included two songs created just for the movie: a solo for Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) called “No Place Like Home” and a solo for Glinda (Ariana Grande) titled “Girl in the Bubble.” While both are beautiful and add valuable insight to the story, there are other moments and characters we would’ve liked to hear (more) about and from.
In musicals, characters sing because their emotions are too powerful to convey by simply speaking. And there are definitely a lot of emotions in Wicked: For Good. Admittedly, it’s unrealistic to have had more than two new songs in Wicked: For Good, but we can still dream.
This contains spoilers for Wicked: For Good.
The Cowardly Lion reveals his fear of Elphaba in ‘Wicked: For Good’
Speaking of new songs, one of the new Wicked: For Good songs, “No Place Like Home,” actually gets interrupted — right before the final note! — by the Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo). He shows up, frightened, telling his fellow animals not to listen to the Wicked Witch of the West. The Lion explains how Elphaba kidnapped him as a cub. It’s why he’s been terrified and has had nightmares of her ever since.
Considering the backstory of the Cowardly Lion in Wicked the Musical has always been weak, giving him a song to further explore that fear would have been nice. It could have gone back to the first Wicked movie, from caged cub to being released in the forest by Elphaba (and Fiyero) to the present day.
We’re not sure where the song would go, because sticking a song in the middle of another song or right before or after another song isn’t ideal. But this is all hypothetical anyway!
Fiyero could easily sing about his feelings in a new song in ‘Wicked: For Good’
It makes sense that Elphaba and Glinda get new solo songs in Wicked: For Good, but there’s a strong argument for Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), too. The Winkie prince is featured in “As Long As You’re Mine” with Elphaba, but Fiyero goes through so much in this second Wicked film. Singing about it would make sense. Emotionally, he goes through so much more than in Wicked: Part One with “Dancing Through Life.”
Fiyero may not be happy with his life in the Emerald City, but his life finally seems to have a purpose. He wants to find Elphaba. He literally yearns for her. Let’s hear about that. And let’s hear about his life with Glinda. Their surprise engagement — not even a proposal — clearly stuns him while he tells Glinda they should leave this Emerald City life.
And as amazing as Jonathan Bailey’s eye acting is, he’s got a great voice we’d like to hear more of! What was he feeling as Glinda walked down the aisle? Were there any doubts about leaving with Elphaba once he found her? There are so many possibilities for a new song in Wicked: For Good featuring Fiyero!
Diving into Boq’s departure
We do get to hear from Boq in “March of the Witch Hunters,” where the Munchkin (Ethan Slater) is featured leading the mob as the Tin Man. But there’s a major emotional moment for Boq much sooner in Wicked: For Good.
The first time we see Boq in the second Wicked movie is when he’s working for Nessarose in the governor’s mansion. It’s obvious he still doesn’t see Nessa as more than a friend, and he tells Nessa he’s been thinking of leaving Munchkinland. The governess obviously doesn’t want him to leave — her feelings for him haven’t changed — but she “allows” Boq to go anyway. Boq, however, is unable to actually leave. Nessa has prohibited Munchkins from leaving their land without a permit. So Boq’s right back where he started: working for the governess.
There’s so much to unpack there for Boq. What gave him the guts to leave Nessarose and Munchkinland right then and there? What was running through his mind when he realized exactly what Nessa was doing, forbidding Munchkins to travel without her permission? Boq even sees that this doesn’t affect only him. At the train station, a seemingly innocent Munchkin family is kicked off a train. Boq bursting into song about all of this could easily fit into the movie.
A new song in Wicked: For Good for Boq could even go more into Nessa’s unjust reign over Munchkinland. He knows the travel rule is just to keep him with her. Why does he return to Nessa afterwards? He’s from Munchkinland. Why not return to his family? Did he ever consider them? Has he seen them since he left for Shiz? We’ve got questions, and Boq could sing through some answers.
The Wizard learns he actually is a father in ‘Wicked: For Good’
In the stage musical, the Wizard does actually sing when he realizes he’s Elphaba’s father. It’s a reprise of “A Sentimental Man” but was cut from the second Wicked film. While they could’ve kept it, we understand why they didn’t. Jeff Goldblum’s face alone in that moment told us so much in Wicked: For Good. But it could be fun to combine that acting with singing for an even more emotional reaction.
In the scene, the second Wicked movie flashes back to his affair with Elphaba’s mom, telling her to drink the green elixir. Did he ever even think he impregnated the Ozian woman he slept with all those years ago? Does he realize that’s why Elphaba’s green? Then there’s the actual moment in time to consider. The Wizard realizes he’s Elphaba’s dad right after he learns that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead.
So not only does he learn he’s a dad, but he realizes he asked some random girl from Kansas to kill his daughter. He finally got the family he wanted, but at what cost? There are so many consequences, which director Jon M. Chu said Wicked: For Good is about. So giving the Wizard a new song in Wicked: For Good would have made sense!
Wicked: For Good is now in theaters.
