Two months before the anticipated sequel Wicked: For Good hits theaters on Nov. 21, director Jon M. Chu is giving a preview of two new songs from composer Stephen Schwartz illustrating the tale of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande).
“They’re questioning, ‘What is home? And what happens when you are fighting for a home that you realize doesn’t even want you there, or was never meant for you? Do you defend it? Do you fight for it? Does anyone else think of home the same as you?’” Chu told EW about the follow-up to the top-grossing film based on a Broadway musical ever. “Those questions are very interesting and relevant to Elphaba’s journey.”
Chu said one of those questions for Glinda the Good is what is her definition of home? “Glinda is the one that has to ultimately pop her own bubble,” Chu said. “She has to leave her privilege to actually see other people’s struggles and fight for justice and equality.”
Chu warned fans of the original that grossed more than $750 million internationally not to look for “contemporary commentary” in Schwartz’s new compositions, describing them as doing what all good “timeless” tales do: “They ask us elemental questions of being human, not just the great parts — the celebratory, joyful parts of being human — but the scary, dark parts that test us. Everybody thinks it’s about this time, and yet it’s about all time. We are a little bit good and we all are a little bit wicked, and how do we navigate that?”
While the original landed best actress and best actress in a supporting role nods for Erivo and Grande, respectively, as well as best original score, Chu said the new songs are not a mere bid to go after more Oscar love, but emotionally key to the second film’s story. “Even after we recorded them, even after we put them in the movie, we kicked the tires on them to make sure that we had to put them in this movie,” he said of the unnamed tracks. “Otherwise, it wasn’t worth it.”
With “home” being such a key factor in the entire extended Oz universe, Chu revealed that the songs amplify that idea with both witches searching for their way home. “Both of these songs are about how to do that, and it’s questions that I’ve always wanted to hear from them in the stage show, but never got to,” he said. “We get to take our time and explore those questions.”
Chu also shared some key story lines of the sequel, revealing that the two witches are reunited sooner than in the Wicked musical, with Erivo and Grande sharing more scenes together after he realized “‘It’s the girls, stupid!’ So, when one’s going through something, there’s something that they’ve learned from the other that affects them, or the fact the other person is not there is part of what can’t get them to their goal. It’s always about them.”
Part 2 is expected to feature some of the fan favorites from the original 2003 Broadway musical, including “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” and the tear-jerking Elphaba-Glinda duet “For Good.” Erivo teased the new songs in a December interview, saying that she worked with Schwartz on crafting an original Elphaba track. “I don’t know if you’re ready for it,” she said. “I mean, I love the song and I remember when we filmed it, the cast and crew were crying. I don’t know if that’s just because they were emotional that day or that’s what the song does.”
In the sequel, Glinda is no longer a student and has started working for the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), who employs a large staff “and a lot of infrastructure” to promote her goodness, with help from a team that includes Pfannee (SNL‘s Bowen Yang) and Shenshen (Bronwyn James).
While the misunderstood Elphaba defied gravity at the end of the first film, Chu said that, “if you think she flew in the first movie, she flies” this time for real, but with consequences for the witch who fights for animal rights. “She’s now surrendered to who she is. Is it a blossoming? Absolutely,” Chu said. “But she did not realize how lonely it would be to become who you are meant to be.”
Or as Chu told EW last November, “If Part 1 is about choices, Part 2 is about consequences.”
Goldblum’s Wizard appeared near the end of the original, but he will be a main character in part two, in which he builds his iconic yellow brick road and launches a smear campaign against Elphaba. “He thinks people need a good story. He really believes that it’s for the good of Oz, and his story keeps getting bigger and bigger because it’s what provokes people,” said Chu, or the Wizard who really believes he’s serving the greater good.
The question everyone wants the answer to, though, is what is up with Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), the hero stuck in the middle of the movie’s two main characters? Though Elphaba catches his eye, and heart, he chooses Glinda. “It’s more than just love. It’s about how you see the world,” he said of the difficult decision that ends up leading to a classic love triangle. “In Wicked, Elphaba breaks his brain when she calls him out in the forest. He has not stopped thinking about it, so much so that it may be driving him a little bit nuts. Yet, he feels so powerless for the first time in his life. He can’t just dance right through it.”
Wicked: For Good will hit theaters on Nov. 21.
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