5 Juicy Details You Missed From The New ‘Wicked: For Good’ Trailer 

September 24 was a splendrificent, magthrillifying, brilliaintrous day, for it was the day when the final Wicked: For Good trailer entered our collective consciousness.

Also, I just made up all those words, but they sounded Ozian, didn’t they? I think I have the hang of compound word formation by now. Considering that everything else in Ozian is literally just standard English, I guess that means I’m fluent! Well, I haven’t gotten the hang of the registers (i.e., Universal Ozian versus New Modernist Ozian), so maybe I’m just, like, C1 level. ANYWAY, the final Wicked: For Good trailer is here, which means it’s time to determine everything new that we’ve learned about this movie that arrives on November 21.

So, without further ado, and without divulging too many spoilers…I will share some frank analysis! 

1. The origin of Glinda’s bubble … revealed!

If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, wondering why Glinda travels everywhere by bubble, then Wicked For: Good will cure your insomnia. The trailer revealifies that she’s gifted the bubble by the state of Oz. She also becomes immediately obsessulated with her bubble’s many amenities, because apparently it’s the magic bubble version of an iPhone 17 Pro Max. 

2. Director Jon Chu listened to the armchair criticism

One of the biggest complaints about the first Wicked movie was that it seemed dull and washed out, blanched as it was by questionable color contrast work. However, this criticism came mostly from people who are not even remotely qualified to direct a Hollywood movie, a.k.a. me, so I just assumed Jon Chu would ignore all the criticism and take solace in his paycheck. And yet, he listened! He appears to have internalized the backlash that swept Reddit and other esteemed sites of cultural criticism, for the new Wicked: For Good trailer is awash in bright pinks and greens. Of course, the pinks are a nod to Glinda’s recent Galindafication of Oz, but even the greens are brighter and, well, more fantastical. As it turns out, all Chu had to do was play with tint and contrast ratios in post-production. You know, those things that you play with on your phone to make your cat look more vibrant.

3. Elphaba’s power pants 

In a key scene of the trailer, Elphaba appears to have traded her black warrior gown for black warrior pants, signifying a more practical approach to both broom-flying and wand-to-wand combat. Costume designer Paul Tazewell seemingly intends to convey Elphaba’s newfound purpose and tenacity, and it’s working pretty well. Elphaba appears fiercer, stronger, and ironically more grounded. Of course, that’s not just because of her pants. It’s also to do with Elphaba’s character arc and Cynthia Erivo’s brilliant performance. That said, if Elphaba’s pants do happen to be magic and empowering, then I will need a pair in a couple months when holiday shopping begins.

**MINOR MUSICAL SPOILERS IN 3, 2, 1…**

4. The ableist question has been answered 

Another salient criticism of the first Wicked movie pertained to the portrayal of Nessarose, who uses a wheelchair. Fans of Wicked the musical knew that she would eventually gain the ability to walk thanks to some magical slippers from Elphaba. However, Marissa Bose, who plays Nessarose, uses a wheelchair in real life. This caused many musical fans to wonder how Wicked: For Good would stage the walking scene with Bose — and if it would verge into an ableist “fixing” narrative. Cleverly, Wicked: for Good sidesteps that issue by having Nessarose fly once she puts on the slippers. It happens to be a perfect nod to her ultimate fate, which I of course won’t spoil here.

5. A Superman nod?

Even if you haven’t seen the musical, you probably knew where the storyline with Elphaba and Fiyero was headed. However, the final For Good trailer makes it official: Elphaba and Fiyero are having an affair. How tragical! Wait, that’s not Ozian. That’s Backstreet Boysian. I digress. In the trailer, Elphaba and Fiyero don’t just kiss; they passionately kiss, while soaring into a forest canopy. According to Chu, it’s meant to portray their love’s “ascension”, but to queers everywhere, it will be seen only as a camp parody of Superman.