For Good Will Give Its Witches Some Wholly New Tunes

It was only a month ago that Wicked started taking the world by storm, and not that long since we learned its second half would now go by Wicked: For Good. Universal’s not ready to reveal anything from the sequel, but that hasn’t stopped co-lead Cynthia Erivo from hyping up some of the next film’s changes, particularly in the music.

At a recent appearance on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Erivo talked about her approach to playing Elphaba, who eventually becomes the famous Wicked Witch. One thing she mentioned was working closely with the play and film’s composer, Stephen Schwartz, to develop a brand new song for her character. Without giving anything away, she teased “even the title will move you. I don’t know if you’re ready for it. When we filmed it, the cast and crew were crying. […] I hope audiences are ready—it’s a song that speaks to the heart of who Elphaba is.”

You might’ve forgotten, but Schwartz said in 2022 there’d be a pair of new songs for Wicked’s second half “to meet the [storytelling’s] demands.” The first movie’s music changes mainly concerned the characters or setting to account for it no longer being a stage musical, but those songs were otherwise the same. Giving Elphaba and Glinda some new tunes keeps things fresh for movie and OG fans, and makes Wicked: For Good feel like even more like an event. And it’ll also make those new songs enticing to belt out when the film eventually gets its own sing-along version.

But Wicked: For Good needs to come out first—and it’ll do so on November 21, 2025. If you were waiting to watch the first film at home, good news: it’s hitting digital on New Year’s Eve.

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