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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Wicked (2024), directed by Jon M. Chu, centers on the unlikely friendship between two students whose paths in Oz diverge: Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, the misunderstood young woman with green skin, and Ariana Grande plays Glinda, the popular, privileged student learning to find her true heart. Their story gives the film its emotional center; a wider ensemble fills out Shiz University and the powerful world beyond it.
Who plays Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked?
Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, a young woman marked by her green skin who has yet to discover the full extent of her power. Ariana Grande plays Glinda, a popular and privileged student whose journey moves toward a deeper understanding of herself. The film brings them together at Shiz University, where an unlikely friendship forms before an encounter with the Wizard sends them toward different destinies. NBCUniversal’s film guide describes both women and their meeting at Shiz.
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The roles are complementary rather than competing: Elphaba’s outsider status and emerging power contrast with Glinda’s social ease and evolving sense of what matters. The story follows the choices that test their bond, not simply a contest over which witch is more appealing.
Who else is in the Wicked cast?
The ensemble includes students, mentors and public figures who shape the leads’ lives. The performers and roles confirmed in Universal and NBCUniversal materials include:
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- Wicked, one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, now arrives on your screen as a generation-defining cinematic event.
- Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero: a central romantic figure connected to both Elphaba and Glinda.
- Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible: Shiz University’s Dean of Sorcery Studies, who recognizes Elphaba’s potential.
- Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard: the powerful public figure the young women encounter.
- Ethan Slater as Boq: a student seeking Glinda’s attention, while Nessarose loves him.
- Marissa Bode as Nessarose: Elphaba’s younger sister, working toward independence.
- Peter Dinklage as the voice of Dr. Dillamond: a member of the film’s credited cast.
- Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Bronwyn James as ShenShen: Glinda’s companions at Shiz.
- Keala Settle as Miss Coddle: a new character created for the film, according to Universal’s trailer description.
These characters do not all carry the same narrative weight. Fiyero is tied closely to the leads’ personal lives; Morrible and the Wizard represent institutional and political power; the Shiz students and Elphaba’s sister give the friendship a social and family context. NBCUniversal’s cast and production guide and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s cast listing confirm the roles.
Why does Wicked tell Elphaba and Glinda’s story across two films?
The 2024 film adapts the first act of the stage musical; the sequel continues the story. Jon M. Chu has said that fitting the nearly three-hour stage production into one movie would have compromised story and songs. The split also gives the friendship and the women’s separate paths room to develop across two features. In NBCUniversal’s November 12, 2025 explainer, Chu said: “It was clear when we separated the two movies that Wicked: For Good needed some additional elements to fully tell the story of these two women and their struggle to come back together.” NBCUniversal’s sequel explainer describes the adaptation’s scope.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to know about the music and production
The film features songs from Stephen Schwartz’s stage musical, alongside a score by John Powell and Schwartz. NBCUniversal says the songs were performed live on set “whenever possible”—a qualification that matters: it does not mean every vocal was recorded live. The same official production guide reports nearly nine million tulips planted for the production and around 150 artisans involved in costume design. Those figures are NBCUniversal’s production details, not independent counts. Read NBCUniversal’s production guide.
What the film’s reception figures say
NBCUniversal reported that Wicked had earned $756 million worldwide and received 10 Academy Award nominations in its November 12, 2025 sequel explainer. The film’s official site gives a rounded worldwide gross of $750 million and says it won Oscars for Costume Design and Production Design. These are differently rounded gross figures from different official publishers, so they should not be treated as identical totals. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment also described the film’s opening as the biggest ever for a movie based on a Broadway show; that is the distributor’s characterization in its December 26, 2024 release. NBCUniversal’s report, the official Wicked film site and Universal’s home-entertainment release provide those claims.
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