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“Wicked: For Good” First Reactions: A Heartbreakingly Tender Conclusion & Major Oscar Contender

By The Credits  |  October 28, 2025

The first reactions to Jon M. Chu‘s Wicked: For Good have arrived. When we spoke to Chu and co-writer Dana Fox, Chu was putting the finishing touches on the film, while Fox, who had a chance to watch both Wicked and Wicked: For Good back-to-back (as many fans will be doing in the years to come), said the experience was overwhelming for her. “By the end of the day, I was like a shell of a person who had to be swept off the floor – makeup all over, mascara, sweating, weeping, joyful, happy, singing. It was all of the emotions.”

It sounds as if critics and others who have gotten to screen the film feel similarly to Fox. For Good completes the story that Chu, Fox, co-writer Winnie Holzman (the writer of the Broadway play), and their cast and crew have delivered on the promise of last year’s mega-hit, delivering a moving, heartbreakingly tender finale. Following the fortunes of the misunderstood, outcast Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now labeled the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), the glittery golden child of Oz known as Glinda the Good. Elphaba is now forced to live in exile, hidden in the Ozian forest as she continues her quest to fight for the freedom of Oz’s muzzled animals and expose the cruelty of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). Glinda, however, is enjoying her sudden stardom as she readies to marry Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), living a dream life. But Glinda is not so easily seduced by the pomp and circumstance—haunted by her separation from Elphaba, she wants to try and broker a deal between her exiled friend and the Wizard. These machinations do Glinda no favors with Elphaba or the Wizard, and the aftermath of these choices is only heightened tenfold when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into their lives.

For one taste of what writers are saying, Vanity Fair‘s scribe Chris Murphy wrote on X, “Saw ‘Wicked: For Good’ last month and believe me when I say that it expands and deepens the original source material in generally exciting and innovative ways. Cynthia and Ari take their performances to the next level with jaw-dropping performances. The film fully sticks the landing.”

For Good doesn’t enjoy blockbuster songs like “Defying Gravity,” but it does have Erivo and Grande, and maestro Stephen Schwartz, and the mix of still beloved songs from the stage and two new original numbers should be more than enough to satiate the music-obsessed. Those new original numbers are “No Place Like Home,” sung by Erivo’s Elphaba, and “The Girl in the Bubble,” performed by Grande’s Glinda. Both tracks are penned by Schwartz, who composes alongside John Powell.

Last year’s Wicked enjoyed 10 Oscar nominations, and now, with the reactions to For Good soaring across the internet like so many flying monkeys, it seems like a safe bet that the conclusion will be another hit with viewers and Oscar voters alike.

Let’s have a peek at some of those reactions. Wicked: For Good will enchant theaters on November 21.

Featured image: L to R: Ariana Grande is Glinda and Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in WICKED FOR GOOD, directed by Jon M. Chu.

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The Credits

The Credits is the Motion Picture Association's online platform that profiles below-the-line filmmakers and TV creators. Through in-depth interviews and coverage, we shine a spotlight on all the individuals who are indispensable to the entertainment industry and create the films and series we love.