"This is still Elphaba and Glinda's story" - Wicked: For Good director explains why the movie won't show Dorothy's face

Wicked: For Good is a story that brings fans back to Oz, but it is also a story with a very intentional creative choice at its heart. It has been confirmed by the director, Jon M. Chu, that the sequel will show Dorothy Gale more than the stage musical, but fans will never see her face in an interview with PEOPLE Magazine on October 29, 2025.

He said,

"This, after all, is still Elphaba and Glinda’s journey, and she is a pawn in the middle of all of it.”

The film, Wicked: For Good, which is scheduled for release on November 21, is the second and last part of Jon M. Chu's adaptation from Broadway to the screen. After the accomplishment of Wicked (2024), this new movie brings back the duo of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, respectively as Elphaba and Glinda, in the lead roles.

The story of the film of the musical that premiered last year is carried on and eventually completed, showing how the two witches become the characters we recognize from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 adaptation.

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What did Jon M. Chu say about Dorothy being in Wicked: For Good?

Wicked: For Good (Image Via Universal Pictures)

Jon M. Chu pointed out that Wicked: For Good will integrate the character of Dorothy in its story but her face will not be shown. The director maintains that this move was a deliberate one to safeguard the viewer’s own idea of such a familiar character. "

I didn't want to be the one who tells you that your idea of Dorothy is different by showing mine," said Chu.

He stressed the fact that the story is about Glinda and Elphaba while, Dorothy remains just a pawn in it.

In the sequel, Dorothy comes to Oz as the element that links Wicked: For Good directly with the plot of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as well as the 1939 MGM film.

However, the director, along with the writing team, Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, decided to keep the emotional core of the story with Elphaba and Glinda so that the audience would not be thrown off by the reappearance of such a well-known face.

Chu shared that the reason for holding Dorothy in a sort of partial shadow is to guarantee that the spectators will not leave Elphaba and Glinda for the heroine from Kansas, but will rather continue to see the story through the former two.

According to the report by PEOPLE, Chu also announced that several instances in the book of Oz would be reconceived in Wicked: For Good. Michelle Yeoh’s character, Madame Morrible, will have a major role in one of those scenes.

Besides these changes, the sequel will have two new songs composed by Stephen Schwartz: No Place Like Home, a song by Cynthia Erivo, and The Girl in the Bubble, an Ariana Grande song.

These new songs are some of the major differences between Wicked: For Good and the second act of the Broadway musical.

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What‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ is Wicked: For Good about and who stars in it?

Wicked: For Good is a forthcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu, with the screenplay penned by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. It is a film version of Act Two of the 2003 Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which was a loose adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

The movie revisits the classic story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz but centers the narrative around Elphaba and Glinda, who are coming to terms with their identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively.

Wicked: For Good is set right before and during the happenings of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, narrates the story of Elphaba Thropp, who is on the run and still protesting for the rights of animals, and Glinda Upland, propelling herself as the Good Witch under the strict watch of the Wizard and Madame Morrible.

The two girls’ friendship gets tested due to the new powers that arise in Oz. Besides that, Dorothy Gale from Kansas crashes in Oz unexpectedly; hence, the results will change the land for the rest of eternity.

The film features Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang Pfannee, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, and Peter Dinklage as the voice of Doctor Dillamond.

Besides that, Colman Domingo voices Brrr, the Cowardly Lion and Sharon D. Clarke Dulcibear.

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The movie is set to release on November 21, 2025.

Edited by Sakshi Singh