Wicked hasn’t been out for long, but it already seems to be both a box-office hit and an awards contender. That’s a very high bar to clear, even for a movie that was expected to be successful, such as this one. The movie is, after all, only the first part of the adaptation of the award-winning musical Wicked, with Part 2 already set for release—next November.
The musical focuses on the unlikely friendship between Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as the two attend Shiz University, long before Dorothy ever arrived in Oz. Those familiar with the story will recognize those names from The Wizard of Oz, as Elphaba, will go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, will become Glinda the Good Witch.
Related: Who is Cynthia Erivo dating?
Also starring in the movie are Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage, and Bowen Yang, among others.
With so much of the movie tied to the Oz lore, fans can’t help but wonder if Wicked has any Easter Eggs we should be aware of. Are there major callbacks to The Wizard of Oz? Here’s a list of the biggest ones we noticed.
All the main characters from The Wizard of Oz make a cameo in Wicked, as the camera pans over Oz right before “No One Mourns the Wicked.” This is a clear indication of what’s coming in Part 2, which is Elphaba and Glinda’s POV of the events of The Wizard of Oz.
The witch might not actually be dead, but that doesn’t mean we don’t hear the familiar song as the children of Munchkinland celebrate the demise of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
In the movie, we see Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, who will later become the Wicked Witch of the East, get a pair of silver shoes—yes, the same ones Dorothy will eventually wear. And though in the original The Wizard of Oz movie the shoes were red, not silver, the fact that they are silver in the movie is a reference to L. Frank Baum’s original novel. They do come in a ruby case, though, so there’s that!
“Dancing Through Life” gives us a couple of subtle nods to prove that Boq will end up becoming the Tin Man: Galinda placing his red handkerchief over his heart, and Boq remarking that he cries a lot—very much unlike a character with no heart we’ll meet in The Wizard of Oz.
They might not be the ruby slippers, but a pair of bejeweled red heels do make an appearance during the “Popular” number, a wink to Dorothy’s iconic ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
