Everything definitely changes for good in Wicked‘s second part, with the sequel’s new trailer showing how Oz is turned upside down by the actions of Ariana Grande‘s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba — as well as the entry of a certain gingham-wearing Kansan.
Arriving late Wednesday (June 4) as the first Wicked film returned to theaters for one night only in North America, the For Good teaser gave fans their first full taste of what’s to come in the darker, more intense sequel. “Elphaba Thropp, I know you’re out here — just come in before the monkeys spot you,” the blonde “Yes, And?” singer says in its opening scene, stepping out onto a balcony before the green-ified Pinocchio star silently appears, spooking her.
The nearly three-minute trailer then previews how the film’s plot unfurls, with the former best friends fully stepping into their chosen fates. Elphaba busies herself trying to expose the corruption helmed by the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), while Glinda dons a tiara and becomes the people’s princess of the Emerald City, playing directly into the faux warlock’s agenda. At one point, Grande’s character walks down the aisle in a dramatic wedding dress to marry Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who leads the hunt against the banished Elphaba before appearing to turn back to the pointy-hatted heroine’s side.
“For a while there, I thought you’d changed,” she tells him during one tense moment.
“I have changed,” Bailey whispers back.
The trailer comes as there’s still several months to go before Wicked: For Good hits theaters in November, one year after the first installment in the Jon M. Chu-directed duology premiered. The 2024 movie was a massive success, so far grossing upward of $755.9 million worldwide — more than any other film adaptation of a Broadway musical — and winning two Oscars at the 2025 ceremony.
The Part 1 soundtrack also performed splendidly, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The new For Good trailer gives fans a taste of the film cast’s takes on the second half of the Wicked stage musical’s songbook, with Grande and Erivo delivering a few emotionally charged lines of tear-jerking duet “For Good.”
“Because I knew you, I have been changed for good,” they sing over a shot of the Tony winner telling a tearful Glinda, “You’re the only friend I’ve ever had.”
The trailer also shows several clips teasing one of the most pivotal developments of the musical’s second half: Dorothy Gale’s arrival in Oz. Though viewers never see her face directly, there are shots of her in her signature blue-checkered dress, walking down the Yellow Brick Road with Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Viewers also see the iconic foursome standing before Goldblum as he commands them to “bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair published the same day as the trailer’s release, Chu discusses how he approached including the Judy Garland-originated character — who only ever appears as a shadow in the Wicked stage musical — in the films. “That intersection is the place that we were first introduced into Oz,” the director told the publication, which also shared brand new first-look photos.
“We tread lightly, but try to make more sense of how it impacts our girls and our characters than maybe the show does,” he continued. “We’re delicate.”
Watch the first Wicked: For Good trailer above.
