The Cowardly Lion is off to see the wizard! Colman Domingo, that is. The Oscar nominee has joined the cast of Wicked: For Good as the Cowardly Lion. The news was announced on Monday in a shared by Domingo and the movie’s official account.
In the video, Domingo hides behind a stuffed lion and then reveals his face.
“See you in Oz!” the Oscar-nominated actor says, before winking at the camera.
News of Domingo joining the cast comes after filmmaker Jon M. Chu, the director of both Wicked and Wicked: For Good, teased the attachment of an A-list actor for the role. Chu that he reached out to the star he wanted to voice the Cowardly Lion — now revealed to be Domingo — via direct message on Instagram.
“I was like, ‘It’s not a ton of lines, but maybe you have a little time. I know you’re busy. I’ll come to you.’ He was like, ‘Why the f**k not, let’s go!’ And then we went ahead and recorded the lines,” Chu told the outlet, before adding, “Man, wait until the red carpet when the actor who gave us the Cowardly Lion’s voice steps foot on it. It’ll be wild.”
In Wicked, Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) and Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) rescue the Cowardly Lion as a young cub, after Dr. Dillamond is apprehended and a new professor brings a caged lion into class. The professor speaks of how, by caging the animal, it’ll never learn to speak — which is the ultimate goal. Elphaba, angered by these remarks, uses her powers to generate a moment where she and Fiyero can grab the cub, run into the forest and set him free.
Wicked: For Good sees the Cowardly Lion all grown up. Now older, he blames Elphaba for his scared, gutless nature.
The Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good. (Universal/YouTube)
The Cowardly Lion is among a handful of characters in Wicked: For Good that hail from the film’s source material, The Wizard of Oz. Given that the Chu-directed sequel overlaps with events of the original film, that we’ll see the original quartet — the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and Dorothy — all together in the upcoming film.
Along with Erivo and Bailey, Wicked: For Good, which is in theaters Nov. 21, will also see the return of its star-studded main cast, which includes Ariana Grande as Glinda Upland, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nessarose Thropp, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Bronwyn James as ShenShen and Ethan Slater as Boq Woodsman.
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