Wicked’s Ending, Explained (and What to Expect in Part Two)

Photo: Universal Pictures

Spoilers ahead EvilThe Broadway musical, film adaptation and original novel.

If you’ve somehow been unaware that the movie version of the Evil only tells half the story, you’re forgiven – the trailers have done a decent job of hiding that the film ends on a cliffhanger. The two hour and 40 minute film is an adaptation of the first act of Evil the stage musical, med Wicked: Part Two – based on the second act – hits theaters on November 21, 2025. That could qualify the next 12 months as the longest hiatus in history. Not since the end of Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has the audience been left in such suspense.

To his credit, Evil manages to feel like a complete film, even with so much story left to be told. And we’re not exactly in the dark about what’s coming next, thanks to the long-running Broadway musical and Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the Weston which the show is based. To help you get through the long year ahead, we’ve broken down the ending of the first film and what you can expect to see in the next.

In the song “The Wizard and I”, Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, tells us that she has been waiting to meet the wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) since birth, but soon after she and her roommate, Glinda, were played by Ariana Grande, when they arrive in the Emerald City, they discover that he is just a guy. Wizard and Shiz University Principal Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) convinces Elphaba to read from the Grimmerie, the ancient book of spells, and her spell inadvertently creates an army of flying monkey spies. She realizes that she has been used – and that the sorcerer is a fraud with no real power.

Elphaba refuses to team up with the Wizard and Madame Morrible, who lead the pursuit of animals to manipulate the masses and gain power. Elphaba runs off with the Grimmerie, and the wizard sends the palace guards to capture her. Meanwhile, Morrible announces to all of Oz that Elphaba is a dangerous enemy that must be stopped, branding her an evil witch.

Glinda catches up with Elphaba and tries to convince her to apologize to the wizard and join him. Elphaba has seen too much and doesn’t want to anymore. Something has changed in her! Something is not the same! Elphaba casts a spell to try to give herself wings and only succeeds in conjuring a broomstick to fly – well enough to make her escape. She almost convinces Glinda to join her, but Glinda can’t do it, instead giving her former friend a very fetching cloak. When the palace guards arrive, Elphaba flies out the window (well, falls, then flies), dodges the flying monkeys, performs “Defying Gravity” and vows that “no wizard that is or was will ever bring me down.”

Madame Morrible’s words have a profound effect on the Ozians, who now see Elphaba as a terrifying threat. Elphaba’s sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) is horrified, but not as much as their father (Andy Nyman), who appears to drop dead in shock. Back at the wizard’s palace, Morrible asks the palace guards to let Glinda go – and despite everything Glinda has seen, she and Morrible embrace. High above them, Elphaba gives her battle cry and flies off into the distance.

No. Thank God.

We can probably assume that Wicked: Part Two will follow the second act of the musical closely. The first film, while stretched out considerably with some character additions, is a very faithful adaptation of the source material. The second film may add more material: The second act is shorter and likely needs more amplification, which may explain why composer Stephen Schwartz previously revealed that there will be at least two new songs. In terms of plot, however, the musical can give us a clear picture of what we will see in a year.

Provided that there are no major deviations, Wicked: Part Two should take up with Glinda now renamed Glinda the Good and promote positive vibes among Ozians, even as the wizard and his press secretary, Madame Morrible, continue to spread lies about the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda has wanted into an engagement with Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who serves as captain of the guard for the wizard despite still being loyal to Elphaba. He’s not exactly thrilled to hear that he’s marrying Glinda, and runs off to find the witch he truly loves.

Elphaba’s sister Nessa needs to do something of an abrupt heel turn for her transformation into the Wicked Witch of the East – and here’s hope Wicked: Part Two adds a little bit of nuance. In the musical, she is now the governor of Munchkinland after her father’s death and has prevented any Munchkins from leaving so she can keep Boq (Ethan Slater) by her side as a servant. Elphaba arrives with the Grimmerie in tow and conjures Nessa’s shoes so she can walk (the movie might tweak this plot as well). When Boq announces that he is leaving to confess his love to Glinda, Nessa tries to make her own spell and ends up destroying his heart, forcing Elphaba to turn him into a tin man. (The first film gives Boq the surname “Woodsman”, making this development not much of a surprise.)

Elphaba and Fiyero finally reunite, but their very sexy duet is interrupted when Elphaba realizes that a flying house has put Nessa in danger. Madame Morrible wants to use Nessa’s death to force Elphaba out of hiding, so she’s created a cyclone to bring Dorothy Gale to Oz and – well, if you’ve seen The Wizard of Ozyou know how it turns out for the Wicked Witch of the East. When Elphaba arrives at the scene of her housebroken sister, she and Glinda cross paths again. The two fight over Fiyero and the fact that Glinda has handed over Nessa’s enchanted shoes to Dorothy before sending the girl off down the yellow brick road.

As we know, it’s all a trap and Elphaba is almost caught until Fiyero reveals himself as a double agent and helps her escape. He’s taken away, and Elphaba casts a spell to protect him as he sings “No Good Deed,” a bitter “breaking bad” showstopper that’s one of the main selling points of the second act. At the same time, an angry group of Ozians are very ready for the Wicked Witch of the West to be destroyed. Dorothy’s friends have personal vendettas against her. The Tin Woodman, formerly known as Boq, wants revenge on Elphaba for what she turned him into – even if it was to save his life – and the Cowardly Lion somehow blames Elphaba for being a coward when he is an adult version of the lion that Elphaba and Fiyero rescue Evil.

Elphaba and Glinda eventually make peace, with Glinda offering to tell everyone the truth about the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba urges her not to, saying that it would just make the Ozians turn on Glinda too. The one-of-a-kind besties sing “For Good,” which is the other big selling point of the second act, assuming you’re someone who appreciates impeccable harmonizing and weeps over friendship. Glinda watches in horror as Dorothy throws water at Elphaba, which seems to melt her – but Evil has a happier ending and we should expect the same from the film. After Glinda arrests Morrible, she delivers Elphaba’s green glass bottle to the wizard, who finally realizes that he has orchestrated the death of his biological daughter. Naturally, Elphaba has only faked her death for a life of freedom with Fiyero, transformed by her spell into the Scarecrow – with Glinda never knowing their true fate.

If the other Evil the film wants to expand on material from the second act of the musical, there are certainly plenty of opportunities for extra context, added scenes and new characters. They have to fit the two new songs in somewhere! A possible source for these additions is Maguire’s original novel, which served as a loose inspiration for the musical. (Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book about Evil the musical, collaborated on the script for the films with Dana Fox.) The challenge here is that Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is a much darker and more complex version of the story, with more intricate politics, brutal violence, and kinky sex that could ever fit into a family-friendly musical — or a PG-rated movie.

Apart from its content appropriateness, Wicked: Part Two had to deviate far from the musical to draw from the novel. For example, Fiyero is unlikely to end up in an arranged marriage (not with Glinda) and have an affair with Elphaba. With that in mind, we probably won’t get to meet Elphaba’s son, Liir – unless the filmmakers are keen to adapt more of Maguire’s novels. Liir is the main character in his first Evil sequel, the incredibly titled Son of a witch.

Much of the novel Evil takes place in Fiyero’s castle Kiamo Ko, where Elphaba and Liir live with Fiyero’s widow, Sarima. (While book Elphaba fantasizes that the Scarecrow is secretly Fiyero in disguise, he’s actually dead.) Sarima is a fascinating character, but one we’re unlikely to see in Second part. Assuming the movie wants to keep the PG rating of the first movie — and keep Elphaba less morally gray than she is in the book — we probably won’t get her accidental murder of a chef with bees (don’t ask) or her bulge either of an already dead Madame Morrible.

The one area where Second part seems most likely to draw from Maguire’s novel is in scenes with Elphaba and Dorothy. Dorothy is only hinted at in the musical (she’s either just offstage or seen in shadow), but she plays a larger role in the book—including a pivotal scene where she reveals that she only wants Elphaba’s forgiveness for killing Nessarose . The first one Evil movie borrowed heavily from The Wizard of Oz with more easter eggs and allusions to the 1939 film, so part two might want to do a little more with Dorothy and her friends. Incorporating a bit of Maguire’s Dorothy scenes could help flesh one out Evils main themes: good and evil is a matter of perspective.