Are the ‘Wicked’ movies ending with ‘For Good’? Here’s the (green) tea
**Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers from the _Wicked_ books and both acts of the Broadway musical.**
Following the release of the first _Wicked_ movie, fans immediately started theorizing, speculating, and wishfully thinking that this film franchise wouldn’t end with the _Wicked: For Good_ sequel. But given how conclusive the second act of the 2003 Broadway musical is, this speculation eventually moved into the literary universe created by writer Gregory Maguire in the 1995 novel _Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West_.
During an interview to promote his latest novel, _Elphie: A Wicked Childhood_ , Maguire was asked if he had any comments about these rumored new movies, or perhaps even TV shows, set in the _Wicked_ world that he’s built for the past three decades.
“If there are conversations — and I’m not saying that there aren’t — if there are conversations, they’re not conversations that involve me directly. So I don’t know, really. I don’t know,” Maguire told _Out_.
“I understand that there’s a lot of interest in Universal about the magnificent property they’ve developed,” the _Wicked_ and _Elphie_ author went on. “You probably saw there’s notions of a _Wicked_ area of Universal theme parks. And god knows there’s been enough _Wicked_ merch. To date, I have sold the rights to one novel and one novel only, and that’s _Wicked_.”
Maguire added, “And if I never sell the rights to anything else, so be it. The truth is, of course, as you know, the novel of _Wicked_ ends very differently from the play and from the movie. All the characters are in different places at the end of my novel than they are at the end of the play.”
Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in the _Wicked_ movies.Universal Pictures
“For one thing,” Maguire explains, “there’s this 14-year-old boy named Liir who is the love child of Fiyero and Elphaba, and that sure doesn’t happen on the stage by the end of _Wicked_. And so, therefore, all the trajectories of my characters will have to be different from the characters that might conceivably be spawned from a Universal interpretation. But if they were my characters originally, then you can’t write another sentence about Madame Morrible and invent something about her, because she’s under copyright. And you can’t do Elphaba again, and call her Elphaba, because she’s under copyright.”
Maguire remarks, “What I gave were the rights to use my original novel as inspiration for their project, and they’ve used that.”
If approached by the studio and producers to expand the _Wicked_ franchise on the big screen, would he be open to it?
“I might be,” Maguire tells _Out_. “But a) I’m not greedy; and b) I’m frugal. I don’t need anything more. And what if I didn’t like what was being proposed? Or if I thought, ‘Why? Will this dilute this moral tale? Or is it just money-grabbing?’”
The novelist concludes, “I wouldn’t say I am absolutely closed to it. But I wouldn’t say I am hanging around the phone hoping that somebody rings, either.”
(L) The cover art for Gregory Maguire’s 2025 novel _Elphie: A Wicked Childhood_ ; (R) Gregory Maguire, author, poses for a photo.Willam Morrow; Helen Maguire Newman
After a record-breaking first _Wicked_ movie — and prior to the release of the _Wicked: For Good_ sequel being hailed as the “epic conclusion” of this two-part cinematic saga — the discourse about more _Wicked_ movies with the involvement of director Jon M. Chu alongside actors Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), Ariana Grande (Glinda), and Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero) has been raging on.
That chatter, compounded with rumors that _Wicked: For Good_ might have a different ending from the Broadway musical, prompted even casual fans to theorize that this could become an actual film franchise for Universal Pictures.
In fact, _Wicked_ composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, along with screenwriter Winnie Holzman — both of whom originated the Broadway musical and had direct involvement in the two movies — had a different answer when asked about the potential to grow a _Wicked_ cinematic universe.
During the promo cycle for the first _Wicked_ movie, Oz Historian Ryan Jay asked Schwartz and Holzman if they would consider more sequels beyond what was then still named _Wicked: Part Two_ — and is now officially titled _Wicked: For Good_ — in an interview for _The Morning Blend TMJ4_.
“We already got a franchise,” Jay remarked. “What will it take to get _Wicked_ part three, and four?”
Schwartz replied, “We’re actually talking about something. It’s under wraps, and we can’t say [much].”
“But it’s not _Wicked_ part three or four,” Holzman noted.
Schwartz agreed. “But there _is_ something we’re talking about,” the composer and lyricist teased.
**_Wicked: For Good_ opens in theaters on November 21**
