Jon M. Chu on the Magic, Music, and Meaning of Wicked: For Good

When filmmaker Jon M. Chu sat down to fine-tune Wicked: For Good, the highly anticipated second chapter of his dazzling adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, he didn’t expect that the most stubborn challenge would come down to color.

“The colors were holding us back,” he laughs. “It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Every time we switched from HDR to IMAX to Dolby, the greens went crazy and the yellow brick road wasn’t yellow enough—it was turning into a honey brick road! We had to tweak everything again and again until it felt like Oz.”

That obsessive attention to detail paid off. The follow-up to 2024’s Wicked — itself a blockbuster reimagining of the origin story behind The Wizard of Oz — is, in Chu’s words, “breathtakingly good.” Wicked: For Good is set for release on November 21, and early screenings have already left audiences spellbound.

Starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, the film continues where the first left off — a story of friendship, power, love, and moral courage that deepens with emotion and cinematic grandeur.

The Heart of the Story

For Chu, the sequel isn’t just about spectacle; it’s about evolution. “I wanted to explore what happens after Elphaba chooses exile,” he says. “When she’s made her decision to stand apart from Oz, what does that isolation feel like? What drives her to question herself — and what could possibly draw her back?”

In contrast, Glinda’s arc focuses on awakening. “At the end of the first movie, she hasn’t truly changed,” Chu reflects. “Wicked: For Good is about her courage — bursting her own bubble of safety and privilege to confront what she really believes in.”

That thematic duality — Elphaba’s defiance and Glinda’s awakening — gives the film emotional depth beyond the stage production. It’s also enhanced through new songs written by composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, including “No Place Like Home” and “Girl in the Bubble,” a haunting anthem of self-realization for Glinda.

“I didn’t want to just jump to her decision,” Chu says. “I wanted the audience to live that struggle with her — to see her wrestle with the person she thought she was and the person she wants to be.”

Reinventing a Classic

Like the 1970s Godfather sequel that deepened and redefined its original, Wicked: For Good feels richer, darker, and more emotionally resonant. Chu describes it as “part musical, part monster movie,” capturing the full range of Elphaba’s power and vulnerability.

“Elphaba’s a superhero in this one,” he explains. “We open with her soaring through the sky — it’s about showing her strength without conforming to the male idea of what a hero should be. She’s her own kind of powerful.”

Cynthia Erivo, already a Tony and Grammy winner, brings staggering emotional range to the role. “She’s a badass,” Chu grins. “Cynthia and Ariana are masters. They had to act, sing, move — all at the highest level, and they did it with precision and grace.”

The chemistry between Erivo’s Elphaba and Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero is another standout. Their relationship, Chu says, “isn’t about romance for romance’s sake. It’s about truth — about seeing each other as they are in a world built on lies.”

He continues, “The song ‘As Long As You’re Mine’ feels sensual not because they’re being physical, but because they’re finally vulnerable. It’s about connection through honesty.”

The Sound of Change

Perhaps the most iconic musical moment in the new film comes with the updated version of “For Good.” Chu and Schwartz subtly expanded the lyrics to give new meaning to the characters’ farewell.

“She says, ‘Look at me — not through your eyes, through theirs.’ That’s new,” Chu reveals. “We wanted to show that Elphaba isn’t just limited by her identity — she’s seen through others’ prejudices. When she says, ‘Good can’t just be a word; it has to mean something,’ it’s one of the most powerful lines in the film.”

That line, he admits, feels almost prophetic. “We started this years ago, but somehow the world caught up with the story. It’s about oppression, identity, compassion — all these themes that are so real now. It’s why Wicked endures. These are fairytales, but they speak to our humanity.”

Making Magic Behind the Scenes

The technical challenge of shooting both Wicked films back-to-back was immense. “We’d go from a dorm scene at Shiz one day to a castle sequence the next,” Chu recalls. “It was like emotional gymnastics. But Cynthia and Ariana always knew where they were emotionally — we had a map of every beat of their journey.”

He adds, “We rehearsed everything. Every gesture, every breath had to connect across both movies.”

After completing both films, Chu took a year-long break before revisiting Wicked: For Good to refine it with fresh eyes. “When we came back, the movie had evolved — and so had we,” he says. “The audience understood more after the first film, so we could go deeper. We even added new lines to For Good to hit the emotional truth harder.”

He also confirms that an A-list actor secretly voices the Cowardly Lion — though he won’t reveal who. “I just DMed him on Instagram,” Chu laughs. “He said, ‘Why not? Let’s do it.’ You’ll see him on the red carpet — it’s going to be wild.”

The Spell Lives On

Chu believes Wicked: For Good is not only a cinematic triumph but also a reflection of a shared cultural longing. “We needed this movie,” he says quietly. “Not just to make it, but to remind ourselves why we tell stories — to find hope again.”

As for what keeps him inspired, Chu doesn’t hesitate: “Movies like this let us see ourselves — our fears, our choices, our capacity for good. They bring us back home changed.”

If Wicked was a spectacle, Wicked: For Good is a revelation — an emotional crescendo that proves musicals can be both epic and intimate, dazzling and deeply human.

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