Wicked first look: Watch Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande cast their spell in the epic Super Bowl debut

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande unveil the mesmerising Land of Oz in Wicked Super Bowl teaser

Wicked - First Look

The first teaser for Wicked shows the evil witch in all her nefarious glory. In the upcoming musical film by Jon M. Chu, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande adorn the Emerald City with their vibrant green and pink ensembles. The first look for the film premiered during Sunday's Super Bowl, and the theme song, Defying Gravity plays in the background while the plot develops.

A new perspective on Oz

Obviously, this Oz is not the same as the one that Dorthy Gale saw. Wicked depicts the tale of the magical realm and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, before Dorothy arrives, based on Gregory Maguire's novel that inspired the critically acclaimed Broadway musical of the same name. Glinda the Good Witch is based on Grande's Galinda Upland.

Check out the first look below:

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Introducing the cast

Michelle Yeoh plays Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey portrays Fiyero Tigelaar, Ethan Slater takes on the role of Boq, Bowen Yang embodies Pfannee, and Jeff Goldblum brings The Wizard of Oz to life.

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The visually stunning teaser also has Goldblum's eccentric voice acting, as his cunning Wizard says, "The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy." He appears to be planning to take advantage of Elphaba, who appears to be the evil. As Elphaba confides in Glinda, "Something just takes over me, and when it does, bad things happen." And so it begins.

Splitting the tale into two films

Chu shot two portions to accurately adapt the tale for his musical. Based on what Chu stated in 2022, it became difficult to condense the plot of Wicked into one film without significantly altering it. This realisation came while they were preparing for production during the past year.

Chu shared that as they attempted to pare down the musical numbers or remove unnecessary characters, those choices started to feel like irreparable harm to the original content that has delighted everyone for countless years. They thought they would give themselves a better challenge by making not one but two Wicked films! Expanding the stage allows them to present Wicked in its original form, enriching the lives of our favourite characters with new twists and turns.

Defying Gravity!

Songwriter and composer Stephen Schwartz of Wicked said that the lengthy Defying Gravity performance that closed the show was a major factor in the decision to split the film into two halves. Getting past Defying Gravity without a break was a major challenge, according to Schwartz's 2022 newsletter. After the song, everything that followed felt incredibly anticlimactic because it was composed to bring the curtain down.

Chu's Wicked will premiere its first instalment on November 27, 2024, and November 26, 2025, coinciding with the expected release of Part Two.

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