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It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 30 years since Gregory Maguire’s transformative book, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” first hit the shelves. With the novel inspiring both a hit musical and a film series, how does Maguire feel about these adaptations?
In a conversation with CBS News in November 2024, right before “Wicked: Part One” debuted in theaters, Maguire shared his thoughts on the movie:
“If audiences leave the cinema with a reminder to pause before making quick judgments about someone who might appear offensive, frightening, or simply different, then the film will have achieved what the play and my book strive for,” Maguire stated.
Meanwhile, speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, Maguire offered a candid assessment: “It’s far better than it has any right to be.”
Initially making waves in 1995, “Wicked” the novel became a cultural phenomenon, spawning “The Wicked Years” series by Maguire. The intriguing backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz” soon became iconic. In 2003, Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz transformed the book into a Broadway sensation, simplifying the title to “Wicked.” Fast forward to 2024, director Jon M. Chu, renowned for his work on “In the Heights,” kicked off a cinematic journey with a two-part film series. “Wicked: Part One” premiered in November 2024, with the conclusion, “Wicked: For Good,” set to captivate audiences on November 21, 2025.
After “Wicked” (the novel) became a smash hit in 1995 and spawned a series of novels also by Maguire called “The Wicked Years,” the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz” became part of the pop culture canon in its own right. Then, in 2003, Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz adapted Maguire’s book for Broadway, shortening the title to just “Wicked” (it’s cleaner). Then, in 2024, director Jon M. Chu, previously known for his adaptation of another big Broadway musical (“In the Heights”), launched a two-part film series, starting with “Wicked: Part One” that November and concluding with “Wicked: For Good,” which hits theaters on November 21, 2025.
The Wicked musical and its movie adaptation changed things from Gregory Maguire’s books
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In 2004, Winnie Holzman spoke to Playbill Magazine about how she and Stephen Schwartz adapted Gregory Maguire’s novel for the stage, and she stressed that being faithful to the source material wasn’t top of mind. “It was [Maguire’s] brilliant idea to take this hated figure and tell things from her point of view, and to have the two witches be roommates in college, but the way in which their friendship develops — and really the whole plot — is different [onstage],” she explained. Holzman is right, and this certainly translates to Jon M. Chu’s films, which, to be quite clear, specifically adapt Holzman and Schwartz’s musical and are not a direct adaptation of Maguire’s original novel.
The basic outline of “how does the story differ between the book and the musical?” is that Maguire’s book is a lot darker and politically sharper than the musical, which makes sense; the musical is meant to appeal to a much broader audience. Frankly, the focus on friendships and relationships in the musical and movie — specifically the verdant protagonist Elphaba Thropp’s (Cynthia Erivo) close friendship with the woman who will become Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande-Butera) and her unrequited love for Winkie prince Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey) — isn’t really in the “Wicked” book written by Maguire.
Besides that, there are a lot of small changes as well. In the musical and movie, Elphaba’s sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) uses a wheelchair; in the book, she doesn’t have arms. Elphaba herself has razor-sharp teeth and is muzzled as a child, which is pointedly not in the musical. Fiyero gets engaged to a character who’s not Elphaba or Glinda and who doesn’t exist in the musical. The list goes on, but the point is that Maguire’s novel stands on its own.
Wicked: For Good will conclude Jon M. Chu’s 2-part film series
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In the first “Wicked” movie — the appropriately named “Wicked: Part One” — we meet Elphaba as she arrives at school and immediately freaks out all the other students at the magical Shiz University simply because she’s green. Undaunted, Elphaba vows to learn from the dean of sorcery, Madame Morrible (Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh), and hone her magical powers at Shiz, even as she finds herself targeted and bullied by her popular, bubbly, and blonde roommate Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande-Butera’s character eventually shortens her name to Glinda). Galinda and Elphaba do become friends, and there’s clearly a spark between Elphaba and Fiyero, even if he is publicly in a couple with Galinda … but when Elphaba and Galinda take a trip to meet the Wizard, they realize something is rotten in the state of Denmark Emerald City.
The Wizard, played by Jeff Goldblum, is a total fraud, and rather than allow him to control her as a magical puppet, Elphaba flees Emerald City, leaving the newly christened Glinda behind after a tearful goodbye. In “Wicked: For Good,” we can definitely expect to see these fraught friends reunite, even as Elphaba and Glinda find themselves firmly on opposite sides of most issues (specifically, whether or not the Wizard is evil and whether or not he should continue muting and enslaving talking animals). There are also some plot developments that primarily concern Fiyero and a munchkin named Boq Woodsman (Ethan Slater) who’s dating Nessarose despite carrying a torch for Glinda … but we won’t spoil those here in case you haven’t seen the musical.
“Wicked: For Good,” again, hits theaters on November 21, 2025 and will conclude this saga … and it’s good to know that it has Gregory Maguire’s stamp of approval.
