Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wicked: Part 2.
You know the best part about the cinematic thunderstorm that is the perky yet powerful adaptation of the beloved stage musical get to experience the thrill all over again in a year’s time when Part 2 comes out. Yes, Universal is partying like it’s 2012 again for this one as they’re single-handedly rebooting that old “split the movie into two parts” trope to immense effect. For those paying attention, however, one of Part 2‘s biggest twists was already teased in Part 1.
The weird thing about Wicked is that it’s based on not just a best-selling novel and a globally popular stage show, but also a prequel to one of the most famous movies ever made, so many folks already know what’s coming. For those unfamiliar with the source material, though, what I’m about to say may come as a bit of a shock, so now is your last chance to look away. OK, so you know Prince Fiyero, the guy played by him off Bridgerton who’s so steamy he’s the love interest for both Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba? Yeah, he turns out to be the Scarecrow.
Wicked warriors have now realized that a devious hint at Fiyero’s future is featured in Part 1, thanks to the choreography of his big dance number, “Dancing Through Life.” X @LadyKettleChips edited together footage of Jonathan Bailey’s big number from the film with that of Ray Bolger’s Scarecrow from the original Wizard of Oz. And suddenly Bailey’s loose-limbed moves seem awfully familiar…
I did a thing because I saw similarities…
— Lady Kettle Chips🇵🇸 (@LadyKettleChips) November 26, 2024
(Mild spoilers for Wicked I guess? I dunno.) pic.twitter.com/ofb1xitzD0
If you’re thinking this could just be a coincidence or fans are reading too much into it, then may I direct you to a reply made by Wicked director Jon M. Chu himself, who indicated that the Scarecrow callback (or foreshadowing) was deliberate. “Choreographer Christopher Scott is brilliant,” he gushed.
Choreographer Christopher Scott @ChrisLXD is brilliant.
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) November 27, 2024
What’s really mind-blowing for long-term Wicked fans, however, is that the stage show has been doing the same thing for 20 years and most of us never noticed!
In the stage chroreo it’s even more evident
— Joel Leslie Froomkin (@joellesliefro) November 27, 2024
It’s not just in the dance moves, either, as someone else noticed the significance of a sneaky bit of dialogue from Elphaba to Fiyero.
When Elphaba meets Fiyero for the first time, she tells him to “get stuffed” as he walks away.
— KaRAYgeous ⸆⸉ 🪻 (@kraywhiseheart) November 27, 2024
By, um, stuffing Part 1 full of nods to what’s set to happen in Part 2, Chu’s revealing another clever way in which he’s homaging Wizard of Oz. In its opening scenes, the 1939 timeless classic memorably foreshadows Dorothy’s journey to Oz, and how the people she knows in Kansas mirror those she meets there. Chu already employed Wizard‘s old-timey title card, and other design choices, to hark back to the film, and it seems he borrowed its winking (or Winkie) sense of humor, too. Honestly, with the thoughts that he be thinkin’, he could be another Lincoln.
With no doubt another bumper-sized, 2 hours, 30 minutes-plus experience coming next year, this nifty dance number is surely just the start of the treats Chu has in store for us in Wicked: Part 2, which is due to enter cinemas on Nov. 21, 2025.
Published: Nov 27, 2024 12:59 pm