11 details and easter eggs in ‘Wicked: For Good’ you may have missed, from musical cues to subtle ‘Wizard of Oz’ nods

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero in “Wicked: For Good.”
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
“Wicked: For Good” is adapted from the second act of the Broadway musical.
Main characters from “The Wizard of Oz” appear in the film, but other references are more subtle.
The list includes familiar musical cues, symbolic costume designs, and visual callbacks.
Jon M. Chu’s ”
Wicked: For Good
” soared into theaters with a $226 million opening weekend at the global box office, beating
last year’s “Wicked”
to become the biggest box-office debut ever for a
Broadway adaptation
.
As a sequel, an adaptation,
and
a revisionist spin-off of century-old material (Frank L. Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was published in 1900, while its beloved adaptation “The Wizard of Oz” premiered in 1939), the blockbuster features many elements that will feel familiar to viewers.
All the important characters from its predecessor are back in action: Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), Glinda (
Ariana Grande
), Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), Nessarose (Marissa Bode), Boq (
Ethan Slater
), Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), and the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). Additionally, a gingham-clad
Dorothy appears in several scenes
, as do the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion.
Still, some details and references in the film are more subtle. Continue reading for 11 Easter eggs you may have missed.
Glinda greets the Ozians with a “Popular” reprise.
Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked: For Good.”
Lara Cornell/Universal Pictures
Shortly after Glinda is reintroduced in “Wicked: For Good,” she’s shown greeting a crowd of Ozians in Emerald City. As the double doors open, she strides into view singing the memorable “La-la, la-la” refrain from her Act I solo “Popular.”
A
behind-the-scenes clip
shared on social media seems to reveal that it was
Grande’s idea
to revisit the refrain in this scene.
Other familiar melodies are woven throughout the sequel’s soundtrack, especially in the newly expanded opening number, “Every Day More Wicked,” which repurposes the melody from “No One Mourns the Wicked.”
In addition to writing
two new songs (“No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble”)
, composer Stephen Schwartz added fresh material to existing songs from the play. “No One Mourns the Wicked” also introduces brief reprises of “The Wizard and I” and “What Is This Feeling?” from Act I.
Fiyero is captain of the Gale Force, a nod to Dorothy’s full name in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked: For Good.”
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
After the time jump between “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good,” Madame Morrible announces that Fiyero has been appointed captain of the Wizard’s police force, dubbed the Gale Force.
In Frank L. Baum’s book and its Hollywood adaptation, Dorothy’s full name is Dorothy Gale.
One of the winged monkeys is wearing Glinda’s pink jacket.
Glinda is attacked by a winged monkey in “Wicked.”
Universal Pictures
In the film’s first shot of Madame Morrible, she’s addressing a crowd in the Emerald City, flanked by the Wizard’s enslaved flying monkeys.
The monkey to her right is wearing a ripped pink jacket. It’s a subtle callback to the scene in “Wicked” when the monkeys are commanded to recapture Elphaba and Glinda. In the ensuing scuffle, one of them rips off Glinda’s jacket — and apparently keeps it as a cozy souvenir.
The Wizard is using pop-up books to turn the Ozians against Elphaba.
Karis Musongole portrays young Elphaba in “Wicked.”
Universal Pictures
In “Wicked,” a flashback to Elphaba’s childhood reveals how the Wizard uses pop-up books as a form of kid-friendly propaganda.
Although he has no magical powers, the Wizard has successfully convinced Ozians that he’s all-powerful and god-sent, largely due to his knack for imagery and branding. By targeting children with whimsical merchandise, worship is instilled in Ozians from an early age. As a child, Elphaba herself believed wholeheartedly in the Wizard’s goodness and power.
In “Wicked: For Good,” the Wizard uses a similar propaganda blitz to sell the “Wicked Witch” narrative, and Ozians are shown hawking a pop-up book in the Emerald City.
A young Glinda pretends to conjure a rainbow, perhaps as a nod to Dorothy’s iconic ballad.
Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked: For Good.”
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
In a flashback to Glinda’s childhood, she tries and fails to perform magic in front of her friends. However, at that very moment, a rainbow appears in the sky, and her friends assume it’s Glinda’s doing. Instead of setting the record straight, she replies evasively, “You know how I love rainbows.”
Of course, rainbow-colored visuals are littered throughout both “Wicked” films, but this moment seems to draw a more explicit connection between Glinda and Dorothy, who performs the iconic ballad “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Elphaba hides from Fiyero in the woods, recalling a funny line from their first meeting.
Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero in “Wicked: For Good.”
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
When Elphaba and Fiyero first meet in “Wicked,” he nearly runs her over with his horse. “I’m so sorry, miss, I didn’t see you there,” he says. “You must’ve blended with the foliage.”
This cheeky remark about Elphaba’s green skin may have actually come in handy. When she hides from Fiyero and the Gale Force in the sequel, she uses foliage and branches in the forest as cover.
Elphaba’s magic turns the famous slippers from silver to ruby.
Marissa Bode as Nessarose in “Wicked: For Good.”
Universal Pictures
In “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy’s magic shoes are silver, not ruby red as popularized by Judy Garland in the film version.
In both the play and the movie versions of “Wicked,” the shoes are silver so as to match the original text. (Plus, MGM, which produced and distributed “The Wizard of Oz,” reportedly
still owns the copyright
for the design of the ruby slippers. “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” were produced by Universal.)
However, there’s one moment in “Wicked: For Good” when the silver shoes take on a different color. When Elphaba casts a spell to make her sister fly, the jewels briefly turn red and luminous like hot embers; Nessa complains that her newly enchanted shoes are burning her feet.
Nessa’s airborne scene is also notably changed in Chu’s version. In the Broadway play, Elphaba’s magic allows her sister, a lifelong wheelchair user, to walk for the first time.
“The old narrative was outdated,” Bode
told Go Magazine
. “Overall, the shift makes a lot of sense to me, considering ‘everyone deserves a chance to fly.'”
“Wonderful” was changed to include Glinda, and the new version reuses dialogue and choreography from the first movie.
Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked: For Good.”
Universal Pictures
Grande’s Glinda joins the extended version of “Wonderful,” the Wizard’s signature song in Act II. The pair teams up to convince Elphaba to abandon her vigilante ways — and they very nearly succeed.
Thanks to her emotional connection to Elphaba, Glinda’s efforts are particularly effective. The movie illustrates this by recalling old cues and touchpoints from their journey in Act I, including choreography from the Ozdust Ballroom scene. Glinda even repeats a few of Elphaba’s key lines from “Defying Gravity.” (“Think of what we could do. Together.”)
“I don’t believe Elphaba would ever be convinced by the Wizard,”
Chu said of adding Grande
to the scene. “To me, that was reason enough that if we were going to be convinced that Elphaba would make that turn, that had to come from Glinda first and foremost.”
Glinda’s wedding look was designed to reinforce her reputation in Oz.
Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and Ariana Grande as Glinda in “Wicked: For Good.”
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
Glinda is marketed to Ozians as “Glinda the Good,” a reputation meant to contrast Elphaba’s as the “Wicked Witch.”
As part of this propaganda campaign, the Wizard gifts Glinda a flying vehicle shaped like a bubble. Madame Morrible explains that since Elphaba can fly, it’s important for optics that Glinda also be airborne.
This narrative is reflected in Glinda’s elaborate costuming, particularly at her wedding to Fiyero.
Paul

Tazewell, who won best costume design at the
2025 Oscars
for his work on the first “Wicked” film,
told Bustle
that he incorporated butterflies and birds into Glinda’s wedding accessories to emphasize her public image.
“The idea of the butterflies was to capture airborne elements. Butterflies are very delicate and an inspiration of beauty because they come in a variety of colors and qualities, and they also have iridescent versions,” Tazewell said. “That reminded me of the swirling iridescence of a bubble and how that relates to Glinda and the gift of the bubble vehicle.

It’s a propaganda device that Madame Morrible and the Wizard have created to continue to encapsulate her as a figure of good.”
“Also, her necklace is a collection of swallows holding jewels,” he added. “Again, things that are delicate, beautiful, and airborne.”
Madame Morrible’s costumes also feature character-specific details.
Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible in “Wicked: For Good.”
Universal Pictures
Madame Morrible is a sorceress who specializes in weather control. When she conjures a cyclone to sweep through Oz, the embroidery on her outfit resembles a lightning strike.
“I was trying to incorporate meteorological images into all of her decorations as we see her evolve into the figurehead that she is in Emerald City,” Tazewell told Bustle.
The film’s final shot is a reference to the famous Broadway poster.
Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.
Universal Pictures
In the final moments of the film, Elphaba and Glinda are shown in a flashback to their school days. Elphaba is wearing her classic black witch hat, while Glinda is wearing a white hood.
Glinda turns toward Elphaba and whispers in her ear, mimicking the famous illustration on the Broadway poster.
Chu told Business Insider’s Jason Guerrasio that it was “always the plan” to have the last shot be an homage to the playbill artwork.
“I was always going to end on the whisper,”
Chu said. “And do you know how hard it was to force Universal to never use it in any marketing material?”
In fact, Chu was so determined to keep the last shot a surprise for audiences that he kept the footage hidden from the studio.
“That poster is one of the most brilliant posters ever made. You don’t know what Glinda’s saying, because they never actually do that in the musical,” he said. “But it’s sort of the key to friendship. That we have these secrets. And the girls got to choose what they are actually saying in the scene. I don’t even know what they said.”
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