Ariana Grande as Glinda smiling widely in Wicked For Good
By
Alex Harrison
Published 19 minutes ago
Alex is the Senior Movies Editor, managing the New Movies team, as well as one of ScreenRant's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics. After graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in English, he spent a locked-down year in Scotland completing a Master's in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh, which he hears is a nice, lively city. He now lives in and works from Milan, Italy, conveniently a short train ride from the Venice Film Festival, which he first covered for SR in 2024.
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Warning: Spoilers ahead for Wicked: For GoodThe broad strokes of Wicked: For Good's ending are faithful to the stage musical that inspired it. In her climactic encounter with Dorothy, Elphaba stages her own death, playing into the myth that water could melt her. She runs off for a happily ever after with Fiyero, who she had turned into the Scarecrow earlier in the story to save his life. The Wizard floats away on his balloon, and in his absence, the people now look to Glinda, who arrests Madame Morrible and is set to lead Oz into a brighter future.
But with one, tiny detail in the last moments, the movie makes a change that's actually quite profound. Glinda and Elphaba have gone their separate ways, but through the magic of editing, it appears as if they're connecting again as they think of each other at the same time. And as a snippet of "For Good," their duet, plays, the Grimmerie opens for Glinda, glowing and seemingly flipping itself to a page.
On the one hand, it's easy to look at this cynically as a clever set-up for a Glinda-focused, Ariana Grande-starring spinoff, or maybe even a Wicked: Part 3. But, thematically, it's a deeply significant choice that sits at the heart of what Jon M. Chu's brace of films are really about.
Wicked: For Good Giving Glinda Magic Makes Its Most Moving Song Even More Meaningful
Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked For GoodImage via Universal Pictures
As explained in Wicked: Part 1, the Grimmerie is a powerful spellbook written in a lost Ozian language, and even the most accomplished magic-users can only decipher a few words. A prophecy claimed that, someday, a person who could read it would restore magic to Oz; the Wizard, who arrived from our world via hot air balloon, was thought to be this person. But, in reality, it turns out to be Elphaba.
Whenever she wants to accomplish something with magic, the book will open itself to a spell for the job, though it may arrive at the same point in a way she did not intend. She can read the words, and reciting them successfully casts the spell, but she doesn't truly understand them – she speaks the incantations despite not knowing what she's actually saying. Elphaba is naturally gifted, but the film doesn't really suggest that she inherently knows this language. Instead, it seems like the Grimmerie makes itself legible to her.
So, when the book opens for Glinda, the implication is that she will be able to read it now, too. Her lifelong dream to be magical is finally coming true.
This upends everything we've come to understand about how magic works in Oz. Though controlling it can come with time and instruction, Madame Morrible certainly believes that one either does or does not have the gift. Up until the end of Wicked: For Good, the films seem to back her up. Even the suggestion that Elphaba's power comes from her being a child of two worlds is based in this kind of thinking.
That magic is instead something a person can grow into, and that reading the Grimmerie is something a person can become ready for, is a significant departure – and a thematically resonant one. If Elphaba could do it not because of her parentage but because of her strength of character, then the only thing denying the Wizard and Morrible access was that they weren't the right people to wield that power. They could have been, but they chose a darker path.
The callback to "For Good," meanwhile, puts Glinda's newfound ability in the context of the way she has grown as a person since meeting Elphaba. The message is clear: In Chu's Wicked, a transformative friendship can do more than just change you for the better. It can make you magical.
7.5/10
8/10
Wicked: For Good
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG Drama Fantasy Romance Release Date November 21, 2025 Runtime 137 Minutes Director Jon M. Chu Writers Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, Gregory Maguire Producers Marc Platt, David Stone
11 Images
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) with a thoughtful frown in Wicked: For Good
Glinda (Ariana Grande) smiling in Wicked: For Good
Glinda (Ariana Grande) putting on her crown in Wicked: For Good
Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) playing in a marching band in Wicked: For Good
Glinda (Ariana Grande) walking down the aisle surrounded by yellow butterflies in Wicked: For Good
Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) staring into each other’s eyes up close in Wicked: For Good
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) flying on her broom in Wicked: For Good
Wicked For Good Teaser Thumbnail
Glinda (Ariana Grande) clutching a book to her chest in Wicked: For Good
Glinda (Ariana Grande) floating inside a shimmering bubble in Wicked: For Good
Glinda (Ariana Grande) looking thoughtful in Wicked: For GoodClose
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Cynthia Erivo
Elphaba
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Ariana Grande
Glinda
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Wicked: For Good
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