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Wicked: For Good director explains why he's changed Act 2 song to include Glinda

12 November 2025, 14:10

By Sam Prance

'Wonderful' in the original Wicked musical is only sung by The Wizard and Elphaba.

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Wicked: For Good director Jon M. Chu has revealed that he's altered 'Wonderful' to include Glinda in the new sequel.

Despite being a loyal adaptation of the first act of the musical, Wicked includes several differences to the original text and Wicked: For Good is no different. Ahead of its release, we've learned that Elphaba and Glinda will both have new solo songs in the movie and Marissa Bode has confirmed that a problematic Nessarose scene has been edited.

Now, Jon M. Chu has opened up about 'Wonderful' and why he's added Glinda to the Elphaba and The Wizard duet.

Read more: Wicked: For Good director confirms 'As Long As You're Mine' will be different to the musical
Read more: 'Wicked' drops huge 'Wicked: For Good' spoilers in new character posters

Watch the final Wicked: For Good trailer

Discussing the changes in Wicked: For Good, Jon M. Chu told Deadline: "I felt like I wanted it to work even more and I knew we had the opportunity. Also, I knew the girls better. Once I understood how we were going to feel about these characters, then I knew what was missing emotionally for me." As a result, several scenes have been altered.

Explaining himself, Jon added: "I want to see what Elphaba, now that she’s made her choice to leave the wizard and Oz, how is her life when she’s made this choice? How lonely can that be? What are the questions she asked herself when she thinks maybe she made a mistake, what would drive her back to the wizard?"

This led him to make changes to 'Wonderful'. In the musical, the song is a duet between The Wizard and Elphaba. However, Glinda appears in the scene on screen.

Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jeff Goldblum singing 'Wonderful' in Wicked: For Good. Picture: Alamy

Reflecting on Elphaba's decision to see the Wizard again, Jon said: "That’s never made sense to me, actually. Try to make sense of that. Oh, it would be Glinda. We should add Glinda into that scene because Glinda would be the only one who can speak to her, convince her."

As a result, Glinda sings parts of 'Wonderful' with Elphaba and The Wizard.

What do you think? Are you excited to see the change?