Adaptation Analysis: Wicked: For Good
- Mic
- Nov 22
- 30 min read
Updated: Nov 23
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Has it already been a year?
Believe it or not, I held off that entire time from reading or watching anything related to Wicked act 2, so I was going in with only the knowledge of the first film and first act of the play.
You already know how my first Wicked analysis post turned out (longest blog post ever)...
And it seems most of you are scared for my part 2 analysis
As you should be.
Honestly, seeing how many notes I wrote at the end of the film and THEN how many more I wrote after watching the musical?? I was scared too
But the only way to get over our fears is to face them, right?
So let's get into it.
Wicked: For Good vs Wicked - Act II (Topline notes)
Who can say if it's been changed for the better?
Here's my brief analysis for those of you who aren't freaks and don't want to read my extremely long post:
Similar to the first film, the extended runtime does add some more depth to the world and characters, but it still feels somewhat shallow overall because of how much there truly is to explore in this story.
Certain parts of the musical make more logical sense, and despite the film restructuring a few plot points to make room for more story, the structural issues in the musical are still largely present in the film.
The most noteworthy aspect of the film: Glinda and Elphaba's friendship is highlighted in a way the musical fails to achieve. They feel like true friends, whereas in the musical they come across as frenemies. In some ways this helps the plot, in others it hurts. The main way it hurts: this focus on their friendship in the film inadvertently frames Glinda as the protagonist once again.
The most noteworthy aspect of the musical: The animal rights movement Elphaba was so passionate about is mostly absent in act 2, but because of the shift in the story's focus to Elphaba trying to regain the public's trust, this theme is no longer relevant, and it actually works better that way. The film's emphasis on this theme should work, but it actually raises more questions than answers, whereas the play avoids those inconsistencies.
The most noteworthy aspect of both the musical and movie: they lack clear high-stakes tension directly leading up to Elphaba's "death," making this beat far less emotionally strong than it could've been, and making the ending twist quite predictable. Elphaba is actively being hunted by people in Oz from the start, so it's unclear why Dorothy poses such a strong threat + why we're supposed to be under the impression Elphaba might die (other than, of course, knowing it's how she dies in The Wizard of Oz)
Want to know more?
Read on!
Act I Summary + Changes
We open on Oz a few years after Elphaba flew off into the unknown.
In the movie: We see the yellow brick road being paved by overworked / abused animals. As the final bricks are being laid, the town has gathered to celebrate. Glinda / Morrible / Fiyero (who's now the leader of the Wicked Witch search crew) speak to the public about finding the "Wicked Witch of the West," but the focus shifts when Morrible asks Fiyero how Fiyero feels about being engaged.
In the musical: The "we're still hunting down the wicked witch" speech takes place during a day of celebration that is a mystery to everyone until Morrible announces it's an engagement party.
In both the movie and musical: Fiyero had no idea he was engaged to Glinda, but goes along with it since it makes her happy.
The townspeople go back to talking about Elphaba, firing off rumors they've heard about her -- one being that her soul is so unclean, pure water would melt her. Fiyero responds: "These people are so empty-headed they'll believe anything."
Fiyero storms off, and he and Glinda have a heart-to-heart about where they are now:
Glinda is a public figure and has no choice but to uphold the image of goodness, which means she has to speak out against Elphaba.
Fiyero says she has a choice and can run away from all this and go find Elphaba with him, but she only stays because she loves the public adoration she's receiving.
They both agree they miss Elphaba, but it's clear Fiyero's feelings run deeper.
In the movie: Elphaba flies over the town, writing in the clouds "Your Wizard Lies," but Morrible changes it (with her weather-altering magic) to: "Oz Dies," and proclaims that the Wicked Witch wants Oz to crumble!
After the "celebration," Morrible gives Glinda a gift: a mechanical bubble machine she can use as transportation.
Morrible makes a point of emphasizing that Glinda doesn't need to learn magic, as long as people believe she's magical.
This seems to hit her deeply, and we find out why:
In a flashback, we see Glinda at one of her early birthday parties. She's gifted a wand, which she tries to use but no magic happens.
One of the party guests notices a rainbow formed outside, and Glinda takes credit for making it happen.
As the party goes on, Glinda is upset. She tells her mom she wants to be a real witch. Her mom tells her that's not important, and what really matters is that everyone loves her.
Back to present, we follow Elphaba on her way back to where she's been hiding out: a treetop deep in the forest. She stops when she sees all the animals in Oz making their way underground via an opening in the yellow brick road.
One of the animals is the bear who raised her. He tells her there's no hope left for animals in Oz, and they need to find their freedom in the land beyond Oz.
Elphaba says that beyond Oz there's only nothingness. She tries convincing them to stay and fight for their rights ("No Place Like Home"), but is interrupted when the lion cub she saved in school tells everyone she kidnapped him from the only home he's ever known AND she's the reason the flying monkeys sprouted wings.
Elphaba admits she caused that, but when she tries to explain that it was because of the Wizard's influence, no one listens.
She realizes she must fight for these animals' rights all alone.
Act I Notes
One of the strongest additions the film brings to this piece is Morrible rewriting Elphaba’s skywriting. It’s a smart, cinematic way to show how those in power in Oz are distorting the truth in real time. However, in both the movie and musical, Morrible’s position in Oz is oddly vague.
In the first film / act 1 of the play, Morrible is framed as one of the top teachers at Shiz, yet in the second film / act 2 of the musical, she functions like a political leader with massive influence. Neither version of the story ever fully explains how those roles connect, but the movie does a better job establishing Morrible has some sort of business relationship with The Wizard in the first film. The musical seems to completely change her role in act 2 for no clear reason.
Another promising addition in the film that's largely absent in this section of the musical is Elphaba’s continued fight for animal rights. In theory, continuing to emphasize this theme should strengthen the story -- and to be fair, in act 1 of this film, it does seem to be building to something bigger. But as we continue on in the film, it actually takes away from the central story by raising more questions than answers.
We'll get into this later, but after watching both the film and musical, it made sense to me why the musical simply chose to abandon this theme in act 2, and why it works better.
Something about both the movie and musical that added to Fiyero's character arc -- but later raises a ton of logic questions -- is how he says "These people will believe anything" when the citizens mention they heard Elphaba would melt from pure water. This strengthens Fiyero's arc, showing how he's tired of lying to the public & he hates hearing so much negativity about Elphaba, the woman he actually loves. However, putting so much emphasis on how ridiculous the water rumor is leads to a climax with zero tension, because already we know it's just a rumor and she won't actually die from water.
An interesting choice in the film was adding a beat where the lion cub tells his side of the story. In the musical, at this point, we hear nothing about the lion, and he's only mentioned one time in a way that is far more successful than this new addition to the film.
In the film, the lion claims that Elphaba “kidnapped” him and caused the monkeys to sprout wings... The logic that the lion never learned to "fight his own battles" because Elphaba released him into the wild simply doesn't track -- Elphaba technically put him in a better position to fend for himself by freeing him.
Additionally, it's unclear how the lion would even know that Elphaba caused the monkeys to sprout wings. If he, a lion out in the wild, knew this, why wouldn't all the other animals there know this as well?
Instead of feeling tragically misunderstood, Elphaba feels like she’s being blamed in a way the movie hasn’t earned.
Also, the film lingers on the flying monkeys hovering and listening to Elphaba’s speech to the animals, and (spoiler alert) nothing comes of this. Maybe a scene was deleted later in the film where this comes into play, but if so, why not cut out the cutaways to the monkeys? It’s a planted idea with no payoff.
It's also worth noting that, in the film, Elphaba deciding to head into the city to fight for these animals rights / expose the truth about The Wizard barely registers as a first act break because we see she's already been doing this. Honestly, what reads as a clearer first act break comes later when she meet The Wizard again...
Act IIa Summary + Changes
In both the movie and musical: Nessa is now governor of Munchkinland, with her "lover" Boq as her right-hand man.
In the musical: Boq is more like her assistant / servant than a lover, and it's quite clear he despises her. Not only that, he's trapped -- as Nessa banned munchkins from leaving the town as soon as she took over.
In the movie: Boq seems to like Nessa to some degree, but it's quite clear she likes him far more than he likes her, and there's tension in their relationship.
Nessa hasn't passed any laws that we know of yet, but is about to sign a law that bans animals from travelling out of Oz. Boq is upset she would even consider signing it, and Nessa expresses she doesn't want to do it, but if she doesn't then everyone will claim she's "just like her sister."
Boq tells Nessa he's not happy here and needs to leave. Nessa puts on a brave face and says that's fine, he can go. But as he tries to take the train out of Oz, he's stopped -- "The governor just passed a law that no munchkins can travel without her expressed permission."
Despondent, he heads back to Nessa.
In both the movie and musical: Elphaba pays Nessa a surprise visit.
In the musical, it's because she's seeking her father's help -- as a governor, he's a public figure and can help vouch for her so the town won't be so against her. She's surprised to see Nessa in his office, and Nessa reveals to her, and the audience, that her father passed away, and Nessa took his place.
In the movie, she visits Nessa because she wants a chance to reconnect with her sister. She already knew their father died, and Nessa is upset Elphaba didn't attend his funeral.
In both the movie and musical: Nessa expresses her frustration with Elphaba never using her powers to help her.
In the musical: she wants Elphaba to "fix" her so she can walk, and Elphaba enchants her shoes, giving her the ability to use her legs.
In the movie: Nessa wants to be happy again, before all this craziness happened. Elphaba casts a spell that grants her flight.
In both the movie and musical: Boq re-enters the room, and is immediately angered when he sees Elphaba, then grows even angrier when he finds out Elphaba used her powers to make Nessa happy.
Frustrated with his life, he tells Nessa he has to leave her because he "lost his heart" to Glinda and he needs to tell her how he feels before she gets married.
Nessa insists Boq can only lose his heart to HER, and she hurries to the Grimmerie to cast a love spell, but she doesn't pronounce the words right, and Boq's heart starts to literally break.
He passes out, and his outlook seems bleak until Elphaba steps in and casts another spell to keep him alive. However, this spell changes Boq's appearance entirely: he's now the Tin Man.
In the musical: Glinda and Fiyero get married in Oz, while Elphaba pays a visit to The Wizard himself. Since her dad is dead and her sister certainly won't speak up for her to the public, her only hope is to convince The Wizard to tell everyone the truth.
The Wizard tries to make Elphaba trust him by flattering her, saying all of Oz will celebrate HER if she teams up with him! She buys into it and they agree: Elphaba will work with him, and he'll clear her name.
In the movie: Elphaba stops by Glinda's room as she's getting ready for her wedding. They reconnect, and Glinda says Elphaba can still save her reputation. She says Elphaba should go talk to The Wizard with her -- because she knows how to talk to him.
Instead, Elphaba heads to see The Wizard alone. They chat briefly before Glinda finds her way up there. Glinda and The Wizard both work hard to convince Elphaba to join their side.
Elphaba seems tempted mainly by the idea of reconnecting with Glinda, and less by the flattery The Wizard is selling. And she agrees: she'll work with them, and The Wizard will clear her name.
Satisfied, Glinda heads back downstairs for her wedding.
In both the movie and musical: Elphaba asks The Wizard to prove he's trustworthy -- she tells him to free the flying monkeys. He obliges.
In the musical: One flying monkey appears to be stuck under a blanket, but it's actually Dr. Dillamond. And he's lost his ability to speak. The Wizard immediately runs away from Elphaba.
In the movie: The Wizard frees the monkeys, then leaves to attend Glinda's wedding. However, a monkey guides Elphaba to a hidden door, which leads to a room full of animals trapped in cages, including Dr. Dillamond.
Elphaba becomes enraged at the sight, and her powers go wild, shattering the cage locks and freeing all the creatures. This disrupts Glinda's wedding, and The Wizard immediately goes to diffuse the situation. However, Elphaba locks him in a cage.
In both the movie and musical: The Ozian guards rush in, and Fiyero corners Elphaba. He commands his fellow guards to go get as much water as they can.
In the movie: Fiyero's gun stays pointed at Elphaba even after the guards leave. Then he shifts it towards The Wizard.
In the musical: Once the guards leave, Fiyero pulls The Wizard out from his hiding spot and points his weapon at him.
In both the movie and musical: Fiyero tells Elphaba to leave while he has The Wizard cornered. But Glinda walks in... And she's shocked that Fiyero would threaten The Wizard like this.
In the musical: This is the first time Glinda has seen Elphaba since she flew off into the wild years ago.
In both the movie and musical: Glinda tells Fiyero to calm down, but Fiyero says he's on Elphaba's side, and he's leaving with her -- right now. Glinda thinks this means they've been having an affair this whole time, and she's heartbroken.
The Wizard offers her some of his (presumably) alcohol, in a tiny green bottle. But she refuses.
Morrible tells The Wizard he should've stopped Elphaba when he had the chance, and they try to come up with a way they can capture her once and for all.
Glinda says: "Use her sister. Spread a rumor that her sister is in danger. You'll have her right back here."
She then leaves to cry about her insanely horrible night.
Morrible and The Wizard agree a rumor isn't enough; Elphaba will see right through that. They need to actually do something to Nessa.
Act IIa Notes
Elphaba agreeing to work with The Wizard then turning against him reads as a stronger first act break than midpoint, but technically works as either.
In the film, it reads like it should be the first act break because this is the first time she's making a decision in her journey that she can't come back from, and now she's setting out to achieve her goal to take down The Wizard.
Before this point, she's coming to Oz for unclear reasons. Why visit Nessa now? Why visit Glinda? Her motivation only becomes clear when she's in front of The Wizard.
In the musical, the midpoint works more clearly as a midpoint because up until now, it's established that Elphaba hasn't been seen at all in years, and when we do see her, she's actively setting out to get help clearing her name. The film muddies this element of the story, causing the structure of the story to make less sense than the musical.
Now, as I mentioned, Elphaba leaving with Fiyero does work as a midpoint either way, but based on everything that happens in the story after this, the movie and musical both missed a huge opportunity to shift this earlier and make Elphaba's descent into wickedness the midpoint. This is the truest shift in Elphaba's perspective / change in how she's setting out to achieve her goal in this part of the story, which is what a midpoint is all about! And imagine if we had gotten the opportunity to see Elphaba slowly turn evil?? The title of the story would be much better earned.
Alright, enough about that...
It's time to give out the most useless character award: Boq!
The Nessa/Boq material remains one of the weakest parts of both the musical and the film, but the film especially struggles with how underdeveloped Boq is overall, despite giving him significantly more presence in the story.
In this stretch of the story, that lack of depth becomes especially distracting, because Boq’s emotional explosion, his heartbreak, and ultimately his transformation into the Tin Man should be a huge dramatic moment. Instead, it all happens so abruptly that it risks feeling unintentionally comedic rather than tragic (people in my screening actually were cracking up at this scene)
The musical handles the Nessa–Boq dynamic more cleanly, though it's still underdeveloped. It works better by framing Boq primarily as her assistant rather than a boyfriend, which makes it immediately clear that Nessa is possessive and controlling of Boq who is trapped, resentful, and desperately wanting to leave.
The movie frames them as lovers with tension, but never convincingly builds the bond or the fracture, so his declaration that he “lost his heart” to Glinda feels random in a way that it simply doesn't in the play.
Additionally, Nessa’s villain turn is a huge missing arc in the film adaptation of this story.
Film 1 sets her up as kind and sweet, so when film 2 has her passing anti-animal laws out of fear that people will say she’s “just like her sister,” it reads like a flimsy excuse rather than a believable evolution.
The musical avoids this whiplash by planting her edge way earlier -- she’s already cruel and mocking Elphaba at school, so the villain arc is actually set up more cleanly.
The film tried to show her descent into evilness by having Boq leave early on, only to have Nessa pass an anti-Munchkin travel law, which sends him right back to her. However, this leads to Boq's actual departure soon after feeling like a double-beat, hindering the resonance this moment provides in the musical.
In the musical, Nessa has already passed the anti-Munchkin travel law, so Boq has been trapped with her for a hot minute. This makes his declaration that he's leaving for Glinda much stronger.
I have quite a bit to say about the Nessa / Elphaba / Boq scene, so let's get this all out of the way:
Nessa reaching for the Grimmerie is another moment that lands oddly in the film, but feels natural in the musical. Neither version of the story establishes that she has magical potential or any relationship to spellcasting, so the book “activating” for her in the movie feels like plot convenience. In the musical, she grabs the book purely out of anger. Having the book "activate" and making that be mainly what draws her to it raises logic questions the film never answers. How / why does the Grimmerie activate at any given time? We may never know!
In the movie, it was very confusing why Nessa was the governor. In the musical, we have no time to be confused because Elphaba (and we) learn about their father’s death and Nessa filling his position in the same moment. This makes the logic flow much smoother than it does in the film, where it all feels a bit clunky and overworked for no clear benefit.
The shift in how Nessa asks Elphaba to help her (musical: wanting to walk, movie: wanting to “be happy again”) is a stronger, less ableist emotional choice that works very well in this scene. However, giving her flight introduces mechanical logic the story later can’t support. More on this later.
This whole Boq/Nessa stretch also spotlights a larger frustration in both adaptations: the story keeps centering on men during beats that should focus on the women’s relationships. Instead of using this section to explore the volatile sisterhood between Elphaba and Nessa, everything is about Boq. For a story that’s fundamentally about two women reshaping Oz, that male-centered pull feels like a recurring missed opportunity.
Whew.... Okay. Onto other things...
Overall, Elphaba's motivation in the musical is much clearer than in the film, and this negatively affects almost every beat for the rest of the film.
For example, when she goes to meet with Nessa immediately after her speech with the animals, the logic doesn't track. We know Nessa's become the governor of Munchkinland, but the relevance of this to the animal plot isn't clear. It's further muddied when Elphaba seems to only be there to reconnect / show face with Nessa after so many years, not to get her help in any way.
In the musical, she's actually not going to see Nessa, she's trying to talk to her dad about having him publicly vouch for her -- only to learn he died and Nessa took his job.
After this, in the film, Elphaba heads to Glinda. Again, the connection between what just happened with Nessa / Boq and wanting to see Glinda doesn't fully track (other than Boq saying he wanted to confess his love for Glinda, but now that he's the Tin Man, there's nothing to be done here). So her only motivation seems to be to reconnect with Glinda.
Right, so: why is she seeking to reconnect with everyone NOW?
The musical avoids this "why now?" question by skipping the Glinda meeting entirely. Elphaba goes straight to see The Wizard, trying to convince him to tell everyone the truth about him, and her. Her motivation for seeing The Wizard and seeing Nessa are the same: she wants their help clearing her name so she can return to Oz in peace.
In the film, she's almost operating under the assumption she'll never be able to return to Oz. Glinda is the one who convinces her to talk to The Wizard. So her meeting with him feels less intentional in the film than it does in the musical.
The one thing I thought worked better because of this, though, is how both Glinda and The Wizard have a hand in persuading Elphaba to rejoin their side.
This makes Elphaba's decision to join them feel like it's more driven by her desire to re-establish her friendship with Glinda.
If this had a clearer set-up earlier (like maybe Elphaba looking at mementos of Glinda, or going to Munchkinland to genuinely listen to Glinda's speech), Elphaba's motivation to return to Oz would be more defined.
And honestly, I like this motivation better! It's just that its current form isn't as strong as her motivation in the musical.
On the topic of Glinda: her devastation at losing Fiyero is a beat that lands much stronger in the film than the musical, where it's almost played for comedy.
The film's sharper focus on Glinda throughout helps dramatize this beat, but specifically it's amplified by the earlier flashback to Glinda's childhood where we learn she's always been told the only thing that matters in life is being loved. And the one person she thought loved her the most... Doesn't.
Ouch!
However... It ultimately didn't feel necessary to have that flashback. We already get that Glinda’s deepest desire is to be loved and adored -- film 1 and the opening celebration in film 2 establish that clearly.
One thing about the Fiyero / Glinda breakup scene works better in the play though: Fiyero turning against the Wizard. Honestly, this is mostly a staging issue. Onstage, he pulls the Wizard from behind the curtain as soon as the other guards leave and points his weapon at him, making the reveal strong and clear to the audience and Elphaba.
In the film, Fiyero keeps his gun on Elphaba a beat too long after the other guards leave, and The Wizard is right there the whole time, so the shift feels messier.
In both versions, when Fiyero decides to leave with Elphaba, it feels a bit undercooked.
The movie version is stronger though, because Fiyero has clearly established before this that he's aligned with Elphaba's morals and mission.
In the musical, it seems like he just has the hots for her.
Glinda's response in the musical then makes more sense -- it definitely seems like he's motivated by his attraction to Elphaba, so her believing they're having an affair tracks.
In the movie, it's so abundantly clear he's mainly drawn to her mentally, so the affair accusation is less earned.
Okay just two more things about act 2a I swear!!!
All the caged animals in The Wizard's office reveal is the perfect example of “bigger isn’t always clearer.”
In the musical, he just has the flying monkeys and Dr. Dillamond, who we know was an established professor, meaning he had some level of power in society. It's clearer that The Wizard is against animals in power speaking because it threatens him.
In the movie, when we see all these random animals locked up, it begs the questions: "Wait, why is The Wizard so against animals speaking?" This is something I legitimately didn't ask at a single point until now because it was quite clear before this beat came along and muddied that theme.
This is partly why I agree with the musical's choice to de-center the plot from this theme.
In the musical, Elphaba discovering the conspiracy against animals leads her to uncovering the truth about The Wizard having no power, which is what she actually cares about for the rest of the story. Her flight out of Oz after "Defying Gravity" wasn't to save the animals, it was to try to prove to everyone The Wizard is powerless. In act 2 of the musical, she's trying to save face from that moment, not bring the animals back to Oz.
In the movie, she cares more about helping the animals than taking down The Wizard, which, as I mentioned, SHOULD work. But because of the way the rest of the plot plays out, it honestly feels forced in.
Act IIb Summary + Changes
Fiyero and Elphaba fly off to her home deep in the woods, and after professing their mutual love, they're ready to go at each other.
In the movie: They fully have sex (off-screen), and we return to them post-coitus as the storm that turns into a tornado starts brewing.
In the musical: Elphaba stops before they get down to business because...
In both the movie and musical: Elphaba has a "vision" that a house is flying over Munchkinland, and Nessa is in danger. She immediately leaves to make sure she's okay.
In the movie: We cut back to Nessa, hurrying around Munchkninland, looking everywhere for Boq. The storm grows more and more dangerous, and a house flying through the sky lands directly on her.
In both the movie and musical: Glinda waves goodbye to Dorothy after giving her Nessa's shoes and sending her off on the yellow brick roadto meet The Wizard.
Elphaba is pissed Glinda gave the only thing she had left of Nessa to some random girl.
She tells Glinda she needs a moment alone to say goodbye to her sister.
Listening to Elphaba's goodbye speech, Glinda assures Elphaba this isn't her fault, and emphasizes how tragic and unpredictable it is that a house should fall on someone.
Elphaba is shocked Glinda seems to genuinely believe this was an accident and not something The Wizard did intentionally to get at her.
The women get into a larger argument about their old friendship, where they are in life now, and of course, where Fiyero is now 👀👀👀
This escalates into a physical fight
Which is put to a halt when the Ozian guards show up, ready to capture Elphaba.
Just before they can seize her, Fiyero steps in, pointing his weapon directly at Glinda. He threatens to kill her if the guards don't let Elphaba go.
Elphaba runs off, and the guards grab hold of Fiyero. Glinda begs them not to hurt him, saying he was never actually going to kill her, he's just in love with Elphaba.
In the musical: The guards put Fiyero up on poles, leaving him to hang there until he tells them where Elphaba went.
In the movie: The guards beat the hell outta Mr. Sexiest Man Alive 2025, and this is interspliced with:
In both the movie and musical: Elphaba casts a spell that she hopes will save Fiyero's life. But she becomes frustrated with all these things she keeps having to fix, and how she always seems to cause trouble despite meaning to do good ("No Good Deed"). She swears she'll never try to do good again.
In the movie: Back in Oz, Morrible informs The Wizard he has visitors, but he's not interested in meeting anyone. She tells him these people have personal vendettas against Elphaba, and can aid in their mission to take her down.
Dorothy, the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow enter to meet The Wizard, and he tells them to bring him back the Wicked Witch's broomstick as proof she's dead.
At some point around here, we cut back to Elphaba, who sends her flying monkeys on a mission to bring Dorothy to her so she can get Nessa's shoes back.
In both the movie and musical: The Tin Man rallies the town, creating an angry mob against The Wicked Witch.
In the movie: The cowardly lion speaks up during this scene, telling everyone how Elphaba kidnapped him, etc.
In the musical: We don't see or hear the lion, and this is the first time the cub is mentioned since Fiyero and Elphaba freed him in act 1. The Tin Man speaks on the lion's behalf, claiming Elphaba tore him from the only home he ever knew.
In the movie: Seeing the current state of things, Glinda questions if she's truly on the right side ("Girl in the Bubble").
In both the movie and musical: She goes to talk to Morrible, asking about the tornado that brought the house to Munchkinland -- implying that maybe it wasn't an accident. Morrible shuts her down, reminding her again she has no real power.
Glinda finally realizes these people will never truly help her, and she sets off on her own to talk to Elphaba.
Act IIb Notes
First things first, let's address Nessa's death.
She was granted flight by Elphaba, right? So why didn't / couldn't she fly away before the house hit her?
This is my only issue with the film changing this story beat. Otherwise, Nessa being able to fly instead of walk is stronger.
Next, when Elphaba arrives at the scene of the crime and comes face-to-face with Glinda, it's the perfect opportunity to expand on their now very estranged relationship and/or provide more insight into Elphaba and Nessa's relationship, but instead the conversation quickly turns man-focused when Glinda brings up Fiyero.
Of course, this makes sense -- Fiyero left her on her damn wedding day to run away with her ex-bestie. But it's just another example of how this story has the opportunity to flesh out these complex female relationships, but instead relies on their surface-level relationships with men to drive the narrative.
The argument + physical fight that follows between Glinda and Elphaba falls a bit flat in the film, to the point where I thought maybe it was an improvised moment the filmmakers turned into a full scene because they thought it would play funny on screen.
Cut to me being utterly shocked when the same exact scene happens in the musical, but better.
The decision to portray these women as true friends rather than frenemies in the film makes this sudden explosion feel a bit disjointed, even after Elphaba technically stole her man.
In the musical, tension has been simmering for an entire act. These women ARE NOT FRIENDS. The slaps and wrestling feel more earned.
Shortly after this, when Fiyero is taken away by the guards, it reads more clearly in the musical that he's being turned into the Scarecrow.
In the movie, we see Fiyero getting beaten, and in a shot so brief you could blink and miss it, he's hung on a stake in the same position Dorothy finds him in The Wizard of Oz.
It felt overall like the movie was trying to hide the fact that the Scarecrow was part of Dorothy's crew.
Most shots of the group are short enough that you may not even notice who all is there, and there are zero close-ups / medium shots / two-shots / any other type of shot that would clearly show Fiyero's presence.
In the musical, he's largely unseen for reasons I'm assuming have more to do with the intense makeup and costume change than any plot-related event.
In the movie, hiding him was intentional. It's not like they had to change his makeup live.
The question is: why did they hide him?
It seems the purpose is to make it more believable that he might be dead (as Glinda believes in act 3), but... We ALL know the scarecrow was with Dorothy this whole time. And even though the film makes it less clear that Fiyero becomes the Scarecrow, it's still obvious that's what's happened, especially since we saw how Boq became the Tin Man.
On the topic of Dorothy's crew -- as mentioned in act 1, the lion's accusations against Elphaba make little sense. The film brings this back again when the Tin Man rallies the town, and the lion speaks out against Elphaba himself.
In the musical, the lion stays cowardly silent, and the Tin Man speaks for him. This more clearly frames the lion's story as trauma-distorted rumor rather than literal fact. The film’s version just creates unnecessary plot holes.
Back to the main plot: Elphaba's “No Good Deed” doesn't fully land logically in the film or the musical, but makes more sense in the musical.
In the musical, it’s Elphaba’s emotional rock bottom and it hits that way -- raw, furious, final. It still feels like a big jump for her to decide she's done trying to be good ever again, but with Fiyero's life at stake (pun intended), it tracks.
In the film, it lands more like a midpoint than a collapse. Because her goal isn't just to take down The Wizard but also to save the animals, it feels less sensical for her to give up NOW, and because of Fiyero, when the fight is far from over.
On a larger note, I wanted more from both version of the story in terms of showing how society "thrusts wickedness upon" Elphaba, as Glinda says in the beginning.
In both versions, yes everyone in Oz hates Elphaba, but her choice to give up on being good has nothing to do with the public's perception of her, and more to do with how her actions inadvertently keep screwing everything up for the people she cares about.
There were opportunities to bring this more into focus, such as Boq turning into the Tin Man. Had he immediately made a big deal about it publicly, Elphaba's perception would've gotten even worse fast. This would've helped contribute to the idea that she's giving up now because she sees people will never understand her true intentions.
And lastly, Glinda’s “Girl in the Bubble” moment (while beautiful) is another example of how the film reframes the entire story around her. She gets the clearest crisis of conscience, the clearest moment of awakening, the clearest arc shift.
It’s great for Glinda -- her arc is genuinely the strongest in the film -- but it further sidelines Elphaba at the exact moment her descent should be front and center.
By this point, the film has fully repositioned Glinda as the emotional anchor of the story, leaving Elphaba’s spiral feeling more like background noise than the core tragedy of the narrative.
Act III Summary + Changes
In both the movie and musical: We're back with Elphaba, who has Dorothy locked away, crying. Elphaba tells her all she has to do is give her the damn shoes and she'll be free to go!!!
In the musical: Glinda arrives to tell Elphaba she's gone way off the rails and needs to let Dorothy go.
In the movie: Glinda warns Elphaba about the mob, still trying to convince her she can turn things around if she lets Dorothy go.
In both the movie and musical: One of the flying monkeys gives Elphaba a letter. Glinda asks if the letter was about Fiyero, and Elphaba says "We've seen his face for the last time."
Elphaba puts the letter aside and immediately grabs a bucket of water.
She tells Glinda she'll surrender, but she wants Glinda to promise her one thing: she'll never clear Elphaba's name.
Glinda says she could never do that, and people need to know the truth. Elphaba says people need someone to be good and someone to be bad.
She gives Glinda the Grimmerie, saying she'll need to learn how to read it so she can be a true leader.
Glinda and Elphaba share a tearful goodbye ("For Good")
Afterwards, Elphaba goes back to Dorothy, who melts her away with the bucket of water.
When Dorothy leaves, Glinda goes to the spot of Elphaba's death to say goodbye. To her surprise, one of the flying monkeys speaks to her -- he points out the green bottle next to Elphaba's hat.
It all clicks for Glinda. She heads back to Oz to confront The Wizard.
Glinda reveals the bottle to The Wizard, saying it was a keepsake from Elphaba's mother.
The bottle is exactly the same one The Wizard was drinking from earlier, which leads to only one conclusion: The Wizard is Elphaba's real dad.
This means Elphaba is "of two worlds," which is why she has magical powers (trust me, there is no logic beyond this. and no, it explains nothing. and it actually makes The Wizard's lack of power more confusing. we'll talk about it)
Glinda tells The Wizard she'll announce to the public that he's stepping down, effective immediately. The Wizard leaves.
Glinda then confronts Morrible, saying she's going to lock her in captivity for all her crimes.
And now we're back at the first scene on the story: Glinda leads the town's celebration of Elphaba's death.
In the movie: We go through the entire scene / song again, but now we see it from a different perspective. Notably, Glinda tells all the animals to come join the celebration, and she reminds everyone that animals and humans are equals.
In the musical: We see just the first couple lines of the song before going back to...
In both the movie and musical: The Scarecrow shows up at the site of Elphaba's death.
He lifts her hat up to reveal a trapdoor, which she has been hiding under.
Elphaba says she wishes Glinda could know they're both alive. The Scarecrow says she can never know, if they want to be safe.
They join hands and leave Oz together.
In the movie: We see Elphaba and the Scarecrow walking in the "nothingness" beyond Oz.
Meanwhile, Glinda tries to make sense of the Grimmerie.
In both the movie and musical: Elphaba looks to the sky, singing a line from "For Good" at the same time as Glinda
In the movie: This moment activates the Grimmerie for Glinda.
In a brief flashback, we see Glinda and Elphaba during a group hang out back in college (with Nessa, Boq, and Fiyero). Glinda turns to whisper something to Elphaba, in an image that recreates the musical's original poster.
Act III Notes
Act 3 is where both versions are supposed to reach their emotional peak -- but ironically, this is also where the long-standing structural cracks in both the musical and the film become most apparent.
The entire story hinges on Elphaba’s "death," yet neither version successfully builds the tension needed for this moment to feel climactic or suspenseful.
Because Elphaba has been hunted since Act I, Dorothy and her crew being after her now poses no heightened threat, and the story fails to establish any believable reason why we should fear Elphaba might truly die at Dorothy’s hands.
Especially since Fiyero made such a big deal out of how preposterous the rumor is that Elphaba would die from water being thrown on her in act 1 and 2.
The result is an ending that is thematically loaded but dramatically thin. We know damn well Elphaba isn't about to die, and it's hard to understand why Glinda seems to believe she will.
This could have easily been fixed at least in part by having Morrible be the one who spreads the rumor in act 1 that Elphaba will die from water. Glinda would believe anything she says, and when Fiyero clearly doesn't believe it, this could set up the beat later where Morrible says "a rumor about Nessa isn't enough, we need to actually do something."
But let's go back to the start here: we pick up act 3 with Dorothy captured -- a moment that should feel intense but instead reemphasizes how rushed and chaotic the narrative has become. In both versions, Elphaba simply wants her sister’s shoes back, and the scene leans more comedic than threatening or dramatic.
When Glinda arrives, the contrast between the two adaptations becomes clear: the musical frames Glinda as someone confronting an old friend who has gone too far, while the film has her still clinging to the belief that Elphaba can salvage her public image if she makes the right choice now.
This intensifies the trend the film has carried through its entire second half: Glinda becomes the emotional center of the story more than Elphaba herself. It’s Glinda who worries about the mob, Glinda who tries to save Elphaba, and Glinda whose arc continues to receive more narrative care.
This makes Glinda the standout character of the film, pulling focus from Elphaba’s downward trajectory at a moment when the audience should be most aligned with her.
Elphaba’s decision to surrender is an enormous pivot point -- one that neither version of the story gives proper buildup to.
The film gave Elphaba so little focus leading to this beat, the moment feels rushed. There's almost no sense that she has reached her lowest emotional point. Instead, it plays like the story simply needs to reach its end. It lands slightly better in the musical where everything is shortchanged, but still largely feels this way.
But listen... NONE OF THAT stopped me from crying my eyes out when these two divas sang "For Good"
“For Good” remains one of the most powerful emotional beats across both versions. It's an undeniable moment where the women’s relationship comes into full focus.
The film benefits from having built a more authentic friendship between them in film 1 and 2, making the goodbye more genuinely heartbreaking. But again, this reinforces how much the movie centers Glinda: the audience feels this moment most through her sense of loss, not Elphaba’s defeat.
Now let's talk about the absolute mess of an ending to this story.
Using Elphaba's father being The Wizard as an explanation for why she has powers raises more questions than answers.
If The Wizard has no real ability to use magic, why would he be able to create or father an “all-powerful" child? Why would his kid have magical powers when he himself doesn't?
And why does this one confrontation from Glinda scare him into resignation more than either of Elphaba's confrontations did? Elphaba could've used a spell to kill him instantly, whereas Glinda poses no real threat, but The Wizard fully gives up because Glinda tells him to? Yeah, okay...
Similarly, Morrible’s fall feels abrupt and unearned.
In both versions of the story, her power, role, and motivations remain unclear from start to finish. She was a teacher, then a political leader, then a mastermind, then defeated by miss bimbo Glinda who she's been successfully instilling fear into this entire time?
The story never connects the dots, and her sudden downfall feels like the writer simply needed the story to end.
Also, less important, but why is the green bottle so rare that it can only belong to The Wizard? How does Glinda know immediately he's Elphaba's father because of this alone? You're telling me in a city where everything is green, ONLY The Wizard drinks things from green bottles?
Finally, the film’s Grimmerie activation moment for Glinda further highlights both how she has fully become the protagonist of this story and how inconsistent the Grimmerie has been as a magical object.
Well, I'm pretty sure this post is a 35-minute read at least. You could watch the entire first act of this film in that time!
This post would've been even longer if I decided to compare the film and musical to the book... But I'll save that for another time (when I actually finish the book hehe)
If you made it this far, I want to hear your thoughts on the movie and musical! Leave your opinion in the comments below!
See you next time!!
