Is Wicked a Prequel to The Wizard of Oz? The Answer Isn’t As Straightforward As It Seems
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Wicked. Wicked Part 1 is now in theaters and it’s fair to say the movie has been one of the most anticipated of 2024. The first part of the adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and focuses on their friendship, which began at Shiz University long before Dorothy ever arrived in Oz.
The musical has enchanted fans of theater for years as it gives more depth to two characters from The Wizard of Oz: Elphaba, who will go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, who will become Glinda the Good Witch.
Related: What happens in the Wicked movie? We’ve got spoilers!
The adaptation is set to be released in two parts, with the second one scheduled for November 21, 2025. The movie also stars Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum as Madame Morrible and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz respectively, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero.
But why does Wicked feature so many familiar characters? Is Wicked a prequel to The Wizard of Oz?
Is Wicked a Prequel to The Wizard of Oz?
The answer to the question is yes, and no. In many ways Wicked is indeed a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, as it tells the backstory of two characters who were a big part of the classic movie: Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. But Wicked is more than a prequel because it doesn’t just tell the story of what happened before The Wizard of Oz, it also goes into what happened after.
To understand why that is, we must know the story. Both the Wicked movie and the Broadway show are based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and not on Frank L. Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was written in 1900. Maguire’s novel effectively reframes the plot of both the book and the 1939 movie, making the villain, The Wicked Witch of the West, the hero of the story.
The Wizard of Oz follows Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto as they are picked up by a tornado in Kansas alongside her house and transported to Oz. It just so happens that Dorothy’s house accidentally lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. This makes the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the East’s sister swear revenge on Dorothy.
Later, Dorothy is tasked with retrieving Elphaba’s broom and taking it to the Wizard of Oz, in exchange for the Wizard sending her back home. While trying to do so, Dorothy accidentally melts Elphaba by throwing water on her, effectively killing her. Or not, according to Wicked.
In both the movie and the musical Elphaba escapes—not alone, but with Fiyero. As Glinda tells the people of Munchkinland the news, someone asks how Elphaba became evil, prompting Glinda to tell the story of how they became friends, with the rest of the film showing Elphaba’s origin story. Wicked Part 1 ends where the musical’s first act ends, with Elphaba running away after realizing the problems in Oz can be traced directly to the Wizard and Madame Morrible.
Wicked Part 2 will then cover Act Two of the show, which depicts the day leading up to Dorothy’s arrival in Oz as well as the story of what happens in The Wizard of Oz, all from the point of view of Elphaba and Glinda.
