{"id":307712,"date":"2026-03-10T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/?p=307712"},"modified":"2026-03-10T09:16:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:16:54","slug":"you-cant-uncast-a-spell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/you-cant-uncast-a-spell\/","title":{"rendered":"You Can\u2019t Uncast a Spell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One could argue that Gregory Maguire\u2019s novel, Wicked<\/a><\/em>, and its Broadway adaptation are entirely different stories. Alongside the stage musical\u2019s revision of key character personalities, relationships, and even fates, it also softens the novel\u2019s highly adult themes for a more diverse audience. But what binds the two together is an understanding that Wicked <\/em>is more than a prequel to The Wizard of Oz<\/em>\u2014it\u2019s an allegory for fascism and its irreversible cruelty. While the first Jon M. Chu stage-to-screen adaptation, Wicked<\/em>, seemed aligned with this perspective, the much-anticipated second installment, Wicked: For Good<\/em>, seems to have lost the plot.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Chu couldn\u2019t have known that his adaptation would coincide with a second Trump presidency, the timing of Wicked: For Good<\/em> and the media coverage it has garnered is highly culturally significant, given the United States\u2019 own worrying rise of authoritarianism. Especially in our own era, the changes made by this film are not frivolous\u2014they are dangerously out of touch and speak to a growing habit of downplaying the stickiness of fascism\u2019s harm. The Broadway musical is certainly a more hopeful story than Maguire\u2019s original novel, but its ending is still somber, as Elphaba fails to rescue the Animals and flees Oz, likely never to return. Changing Wicked<\/em>\u2019s ending to an unfettered triumph of overthrowing a dictatorial regime, Wicked: For Good <\/em>occupies a problematic cultural perspective, one that blissfully forgets fascism\u2019s lingering pain and permanent damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As others have pointed out, Wicked<\/em> and the extensive literary history of Oz itself have long been considered political. L. Frank Baum\u2019s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/a><\/em> has been suspected of being a commentary on the McKinley administration. And Maguire\u2019s 1995, decidedly adult novel Wicked <\/em>is undeniably political, with visible threads throughout of propaganda, anti-intellectualism, systemic oppression, and even state-sanctioned murder gesturing towards fascism in general, and specifically, the crimes of Nazi Germany. And at its debut in 2003, the Wicked <\/em>musical cemented its own continuation of such political commentary, especially in relation to the George W. Bush presidency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when Chu\u2019s Wicked <\/em>premiered last year, we had no reason to doubt that this political narrative would remain, if not strengthen. Indeed, in comparison to the musical, part one of Chu\u2019s adaptation saw a marked increase in the narrative time for the talking Animals\u2014the population targeted and oppressed by the Wizard\u2014no doubt due to the affordances of CGI in comparison to the limited abilities of stage productions. The film maintains the Broadway musical\u2019s inclusion of the Cowardly Lion, the flying monkeys, and Dr. Dillamond, the Shiz University goat professor whose violent removal from his classroom as a result of anti-Animal legislation radicalizes Elphaba, who, in the film, keeps the professor\u2019s glasses, broken during his arrest. In addition to these mainstay characters, the film adds Dulcibear, a talking bear who serves as Elphaba and her sister Nessa\u2019s childhood nanny, alongside many other new Animal faces to strengthen their place in the narrative, and, in turn, their political significance to the overarching story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Chu\u2019s Wicked <\/em>premiered last year, we had no reason to doubt that this political narrative would remain, if not strengthen.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It isn\u2019t difficult to read the novel or see the stage musical or film adaptations of Wicked <\/em>without taking notice of Maguire\u2019s intended allegory for Nazi Germany. The oppression and silencing of the Animals, including Dr. Dillamond, reflects the oppression and genocide of Jewish people and other \u201cundesirables\u201d during the Holocaust, including the ousting of Jewish professors and \u201cpolitically unreliable\u201d people from German universities and state positions with the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. More recently, though, Dr. Dillamond\u2019s removal compares with the removal of a Texas A&M University professor for teaching about gender identity, as well as the University of Oklahoma\u2019s suspension and eventual firing of a graduate teaching assistant for failing a student\u2019s paper on gender identity that cited the Bible and referred to trans people as \u201cdemonic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compounding this, the second installment of Chu\u2019s adaptation opens to a starkly different scene than audiences experienced in the first film, released in 2024. Wicked <\/em>began with the Broadway musical\u2019s well-known number \u201cNo One Mourns the Wicked,\u201d but Chu\u2019s Wicked: For Good <\/em>opens with a scene unfamiliar to fans of the stage musical\u2014the exacerbated state of the oppression of Oz\u2019s Animals, set into motion during the events of the first film. In our return to the theater and Oz, audiences witness the continued construction of the yellow brick road, being built by the forced labor of Animals. We watch as an overseer whips two chained bison to keep them moving, snapping at them not to speak, as the Animals groan in pain, struggling to keep up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seemed, then, that Wicked: For Good <\/em>was intent on creating a more visceral representation of oppression, including Wicked<\/em>\u2019s inevitable bad ending for the Animals that Elphaba tries to liberate. Yet shortly after the hard-hitting opening, this vision begins to falter. Elphaba encounters a group of Animals, including Dulcibear, hurriedly escaping through a tunnel dug into the yellow brick road and willingly venturing into the \u201cPlace Beyond Oz,\u201d understood as a wasteland, to escape persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Dillamond\u2019s removal from his position reflects contemporary attacks on American educators, the flight of the Animals evokes the real-world increase in \u201cself-deportations\u201d after the Trump administration\u2019s threat to undocumented immigrants to \u201cleave now\u201d or be removed by force. Especially with the increase in ICE raids, it\u2019s an option that was once unthinkable for those building lives in the United States, but one that many are now considering to avoid being taken from court houses, sidewalks, and schools, being held in detention centers, and being separated from their families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Elphaba finds the Animals escaping through the tunnel, she implores them to stay. Here, with the addition of the original song \u201cNo Place Like Home,\u201d Wicked: For Good<\/em> veers into confusing, even, dare I say, corny, territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the song, Elphaba insists that \u201cOz is more than just a place \/ It\u2019s a promise, an idea,\u201d espousing a view similar to the \u201cAmerican Dream,\u201d and, as others have noted, a liberal nationalistic perspective that prioritizes an \u201cidea\u201d over an actual place where the Animals are currently unable to live safely. Elphaba continues to sing, \u201cWhen you feel you can\u2019t fight anymore \/ just tell yourself there\u2019s no place like home,\u201d and \u201cWhen you want to leave \/ discouraged and resigned \/ that\u2019s what they want you to do \/ But think of how you will grieve \/ for all you leave behind \/ Oz belongs to you, too.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, \u201cNo Place Like Home\u201d can be accepted as a cheeky callback to Dorothy\u2019s famous line in The Wizard of Oz<\/em> and a musical addition to the film meant to galvanize the fleeing Animals into fighting back for their freedom. On the other hand, though it\u2019s possible to see the sentiment behind the lyrics, \u201cNo Place Like Home\u201d ultimately comes across as trite, even tone-deaf, given the high stakes that the Animals face. The insistence that the Animals shouldn\u2019t be forced from their homes is a correct one, but the lyrics betray Elphaba\u2019s idealism and feel patronizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elphaba doesn\u2019t offer supplies, routes to safehouses, or support of any kind. Rather, she asks the Animals to stay in an unsafe land with no other avenues or options for protection or shelter. While Elphaba has her magic, her undiscovered hideaway, and her mode of quick transportation when she\u2019s in danger thanks to her broomstick, the Animals have none of this, on top of being quite easy to spot. Without real substance or promise, her words ring hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though I cringed at the lyricism of \u201cNo Place Like Home,\u201d I was initially willing to write it off as a musical misstep, especially given the film\u2019s apt attention to the many tools employed by authoritarian and fascist governments. Specifically, I was taken by the film\u2019s focus on how easily<\/em> orders fly off of desks and into enforceable law. Signs declaring \u201cNO ANIMALS\u201d go up around Oz, and travel bans are enforced for both Animals and Munchkins on the whim of Elphaba\u2019s sister, Nessa, now mayor of Munchkinland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further into the film, like the stage musical, Elphaba eventually finds Dr. Dillamond again, kept in a cage and having lost the ability to speak. But unlike the stage musical, Elphaba finds far more Animals caged alongside Dillamond, driving home how widespread and systematic their disappearances have become. The Wizard, trying to win back Elphaba\u2019s favor, tells her, \u201cSome animals just can\u2019t be trusted.\u201d However, Chu\u2019s film refuses to let us linger in this horror, undercutting the seriousness of Elphaba\u2019s discovery by playing what comes next for comic relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the chaos, Morrible is launched, face-first, into the towering wedding cake, landing on the ground with a satisfying thwomp<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In her anger, Elphaba\u2019s magic releases the Animals from their cages as she tells the Wizard: \u201cRun.\u201d The Animals give chase, barging through the doors and stampeding through the wedding of Glinda and Fiyero. Guests scream, scramble for cover in their over-the-top wedding guest attire and hairstyles, which adds to the absurdity. Madame Morrible, screaming, \u201cThis is the work of the Wicked Witch,\u201d is drowned out by the noise caused by the Animals. By the end of the chaos, Morrible is launched, face-first, into the towering wedding cake, landing on the ground with a satisfying thwomp<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Animal imprisonment quickly unravels from dark horror to a victory, and a funny one. It revises itself in real time into something lighthearted and whimsical, a distraction from the horrors of Oz\u2019s fascist regime. The stage musical, while fun and colorful, is still meant to make audiences think hard about the pain they are witnessing. In this sense, the played-for-laughs fun of this scene arguably becomes reflective of the bubbly, fun nature of the massive marketing campaign and franchising of the Wicked <\/em>films, which has developed into a narrative all its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtesy of 400+ brand partnerships, Wicked<\/em>\u2019s colorful, glittering aesthetic has been inescapable for over a year. The film\u2019s marketing strategy and brand deals, suspected to have cost as much as the first film, have produced everything from nail polish, limited edition eye shadow pallettes, and Barbie dolls to Dawn dish spray, cereal, and even mac and cheese cups. Admittedly, I was not strong enough to resist the siren call of a Glinda-pink collapsible Swiffer sweeper, telling myself it was a practical purchase as I loaded it into my Amazon cart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That isn\u2019t to say this vibrant and Glinda-fied merchandising doesn\u2019t have a connection to the story itself. Wicked <\/em>has canonically had its fair share of whimsy, from elaborate set design to quirky language. But its ending has always maintained a somber tone. In the stage musical and Maguire\u2019s novel, though the future for Animal liberation remains possible, Elphaba herself fails in her quest, and those she sought to save continue to be scapegoated by the Wizard\u2019s administration, have their rights stripped, are silenced through cages, and even murdered. It\u2019s a grim finality, but one that maintains a foothold in the reality of systematic oppression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Wicked: For Good <\/em>takes a decidedly different approach. After Elphaba and Glinda have their emotional goodbye in \u201cFor Good,\u201d Glinda returns to the Emerald City, demands that the Wizard remove himself from Oz via the hot air balloon he arrived in, and imprisons Madam Morrible in one of the cages she had built for Animals. The ending, like the original stage musical, returns us to the beginning with \u201cNo One Mourns the Wicked.\u201d However, in this version, Glinda pauses the reprise, telling the crowd, \u201cI have something more to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glinda motions for the Animals to emerge from the crowd of Ozians, gently imploring, \u201cCome out. Wherever you are, come out.\u201d Her prodding is akin to that of an adult encouraging children to return from a game of hide and seek, not to return from being hunted down. And given that we have, until this point, understood the Animals to have mostly been imprisoned or having fled from Oz entirely, it\u2019s surprising to see them suddenly in the middle of the crowd, smiling up at Glinda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glinda continues her speech, clarifying, \u201cI don\u2019t see any enemies here. We\u2019ve been through a frightening time. And there will be other times and other things that frighten us. But if you\u2019ll let me, I\u2019d like to try to help, to change things. I\u2019d like to try to be\u2026 Glinda the Good.\u201d The scene shifts quickly, showing Animals regaining their place in society, being greeted by the suddenly de-prejudiced Ozians. A wand wave, and years of persecution and fear evaporate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Animals who fled during \u201cNo Place Like Home\u201d emerge again from the tunnel, Dulcibear smiling in relief. And then the kicker: the camera lands squarely on Dr. Dillamond, back in his classroom, glasses fixed, ready to teach again. His fate is magically reversed from his murder in the novel and his permanent silencing and transformation into a \u201creal animal\u201d in the stage musical. Instead, he resumes his career, presumably alongside the very colleagues and students who did nothing to intervene as he was dragged from his classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t uncast a spell. You can\u2019t undo what has already been done.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many have noted their immense relief that Dillamond survives, and a part of me has to agree with them. The character has always been a fan favorite, and Peter Dinklage\u2019s talent only adds to his charm. But I also couldn\u2019t help but feel uneasy at this change\u2014it feels too clean, and far too simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary rule of magic that Elphaba and others in Wicked<\/em> consistently repeat is that you can\u2019t uncast a spell. You can\u2019t undo what has already been done. In many ways, this idea points to the irreversibility of harm inflicted by fascist regimes and their implementation of systematic violence. This major change to Wicked<\/em>\u2019s ending, which sees smiling Animals with speech restored and once again accepted without question by previously prejudiced, and even violent, Ozians, is not just improbable but may even be dangerous messaging, especially given the growing levels of suspicion, propaganda, state and interpersonal violence, and heightened oppression of marginalized groups in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n