Wicked: For Good has officially arrived — and fans and critics have a lot to say about the musical sequel.
Director Jon M. Chu’s For Good picks up five years after the events of the 2024 blockbuster Wicked, with Glinda Upland (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) on very different paths. While Glinda relishes in the fame that comes with being the Wonderful Wizard of Oz’s de facto spokesperson, Elphaba is forced to hide out after being wrongly branded the Wicked Witch of the West.
It’s not long before Glinda and Elphaba’s paths cross once again — thanks to the arrival of the mysterious Dorothy Gale (Bethany Weaver), who has accidentally inherited Nessarose Thropp’s (Marissa Bode) enchanted shoes.
Fan expectations for Wicked: For Good are understandably sky high, especially after its predecessor scored 10 Academy Award nominations. The musical features two brand new songs — the Erivo-sung “No Place Like Replica Luxury Handbag” and Grande’s “The Girl in the Bubble” — which were written exclusively for the sequel.
Keep scrolling to find out how Wicked: For Good is faring with both critics and fans.
What Are Critics Saying About ‘Wicked: For Good’?
As of publication, Wicked: For Good has a 69 percent Fresh critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. The review aggregator hailed For Good as a “rousing” musical and an “epic conclusion” to the Wicked saga, though it also warned that the sequel’s “darker tone and unhurried pacing sometimes get in the way.”
New York Times critic Manohla Dargis described Wicked: For Good as “a testament to diversity” and said that the film radiates “love, friendship and solidarity.”
“It’s on the side of kindness, which is itself, well, a balm,” Dargis added.
The New York Post’s Johnny Oleksinski credited director Chu for giving For Good a more measured pace than its predecessor.
“Director Jon M. Chu shoots it with tender simplicity and just lets [Grande and Erivo] connect and feel. He wisely shows much more restraint in Part Two,” The Post’s review read.
Daily Mail writer Brian Viner’s assessment of Wicked: For Good lavished praise on the movie for being “extravagantly sumptuous on the eye.”
“The sets and costumes are truly spectacular, and the animal exodus from Oz is superbly rendered,” Viner noted.
Writing for The Los Angeles Times, critic Amy Nicholson revealed that she preferred For Good to its predecessor for having “a body count,” whereas she felt 2024’s Wicked was “all tedious set-up.”
Aisha Harris, of NPR, was positive about For Good overall — insisting it was “far from a total misfire” — while also finding fault in director Chu and screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox for trying to pack in too many story details.
“Thank goodness Erivo and Grande are such captivating performers perfectly-suited to these roles — but the over-padding and stuffing meant to justify this bifurcated packaging soon becomes readily apparent,” Harris argued.
Some reviewers were less impressed, with The Washington Post’s Naveen Kumar dismissing Wicked: For Good as “meandering and directionless.” The Associated Press’s Jake Coyle complained that he watched For Good “sometimes with admiration” but “rarely with delight.”
“The sensation of a work that, in translation from one medium to another, no longer defies gravity but sort of roughly plummets back down to terra firma can’t easily be shaken off,” Rolling Stone’s David Fear wrote.
What Are Fans Saying About ‘Wicked: For Good’?
Ticket buyers have been hugely positive about Wicked: For Good thus far, with the movie scoring a 97 percent audience approval rating via Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter, based on more than 5,000 reviews.
“Ariana’s performance was absolutely incredible — I felt every emotion, and her voice… wow, what a talent,” Rotten Tomatoes user Andrea R wrote. “The whole atmosphere was beautiful: the costumes, the choreography, and the intensity of Cynthia’s performance all came together perfectly. You can really see her transformation into Wicked; the character arcs were so well executed. ‘As Long as You’re Mine,’ ‘For Good,’ and ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’ were all portrayed beautifully.”
Rotten Tomatoes user Valentina G also raved about the Wicked sequel by writing: “I absolutely LOVE Wicked: For Good, it’s heartbreaking, it’s full of emotions. It has more meaning than the things that you can see beyond the surface. This movie is a gift for those [who know] Wicked from [its] roots, before this became a theater cinema phenomenon, [it’s made] for those who love the history behind and the legacy of Wicked.”
“Just left the cinema and it was so good, for me better than the first one. Ariana is so good,” one Instagram user wrote.
Other Instagram users called Wicked: For Good “a great adaptation” of the Broadway musical and found that “the nods to the film/musical were funny and thoughtful.”
“It’s a beautiful and joyful movie that centers (gasp) female friendship with songs and dancing. What’s not to love!!!” another Instagram user wrote.
How Does Wicked: For Good’s Reception Compare to 2024’s ‘Wicked’?
Wicked: For Good is not faring quite as well as its 2024 predecessor in terms of early critical reviews.
While For Good has a respectable 69 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s not quite as impressive as the 88 percent score that Wicked received from critics in 2024.
However, For Good has managed to achieve a higher overall audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter, landing at 97 percent as opposed to Wicked’s 95 percent. Despite the small discrepancy in audience scores, it’s clear that the fans love both movies.
From a financial standpoint, For Good has a tough task ahead of it to match up to the staggering $758.6 million made by Wicked at the worldwide box office in 2024.
However, Deadline reported in November 2025 that For Good was off to a great start by making $30.8 million from Thursday previews prior to its official release on Friday, November 21, 2025. That Thursday box office haul delivered the biggest early premiere sum of any movie released in 2025.
Wicked: For Good is now playing in theaters worldwide.
