Part One’ End and What’s Next?

Fans of the Broadway hit Evil were surprised when director Jon M. Chu announced that his film adaptation would be split into two separate episodes.

“It became more and more clear that it would be impossible to change history Evil in a single film,” the director, 45, wrote in a letter on social media in 2022. “With more space, we can tell the story of Evil as it was meant to be told, while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters.”

So with Wicked: Part One flies in cinemas on November 22nd, what parts of these characters’ journeys does it cover? And what can the audience expect ahead of next year Second part release? (Warning: there are spoilers ahead!)

Starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Oz’s future Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande as the eventual Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked: Part One spans one of the Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman musicals on which it is based. Inspired by Gregory Maguire’s 1995 revisionist prequel novel, it’s an origin story for the two witches originally created by L. Frank Baum – who had a long history before Dorothy tornadoed her way from Kansas to Oz.

First part begins its story after Dorothy’s bucket of water brought an end to the green villainy. Glinda celebrates the news of Elphaba’s death with the inhabitants of Munchkinland before taking us back in time to how the witches first met: at Shiz University, where they lived together and studied wizardry under Headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).

The film charts Elphaba and Glinda’s journey from enemies to friends, introducing a three-way love triangle with handsome Winkie Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) and other characters key to Second part: Elphaba’s sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode); her crush Boq (Ethan Slater), who yearns for Glinda; a timid lion cub; goat professor Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage); and of course the so-called wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).

Erivo, 37, finishes the first Evil movie with a bang: After learning that the powerless wizard is responsible for the oppression of animals throughout Oz, Elphaba decides to resist him – even if it means being ostracized as a villain – in the central act, ends “Defying Gravity”. As in the stage show, she flies into the western skies with her hat, cloak and newly enchanted broomstick. Chu ends the film with a “To be continued” card.

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Second part (filmed simultaneously with First part) will include the plot points from the musical’s second act as well as its songs – and at least one new melody must be added by Schwartz, 76.

Spoilers follow: Closely tied to the events of Baum’s original 1939 novel and classic The Wizard of Oz, Second part will chart Glinda’s rise to the bubble-riding Good Witch as she teams up with the Wizard and Madame Morrible to turn Oz against Elphaba. Although still friends behind the scenes, things get complicated when Fiyero leaves Glinda for Elphaba and is later captured by soldiers.

Nessarose, meanwhile, embraces notoriety as Munchkinland’s Wicked Witch of the East following the death of her and Elphaba’s father (Andy Nyman). The sisters collide and magically transform Nessa’s subdued Boq into a heartless man made of tin. Morrible uses his powers to summon a tornado that as The Wizard of Oz fans know, Dorothy’s house drops on Nessa.

After discovering that the sorcerer has imprisoned a helpless Dr. Dillamond, an anguished Elphaba mourns the loss of her professor, sister and lover. For Fiyero, she tries to cast a spell to prevent harm – which turns his body into straw. Like he, Boq and the lion from First part follow Dorothy on her off-screen Yellow Brick Road adventures, Elphaba and Glinda reconcile and Elphaba accepts that she must die for the people of Oz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6COMYeLsz4c

Second part will likely end with the friends’ heartwarming duet “For Good”, Glinda’s dismissal of the Wizard and Morrible, and – as Oz continues his celebrations – the revelation that the Wizard’s daughter Elphaba, unaffected by water, is alive and with Scarecrow Fiyero.

First part is in the cinema 22 November with Second part scheduled for November 26, 2025. Go behind the scenes at Evil with PEOPLE’s new special issue, available here.