Now out in the US, Wicked is a Wizard of Oz prequel that tells the origin story of the witches of Oz: Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.

The events of Wicked, a musical directed by John M. Chu, take  place long before Dorothy Gale’s  arrival in Oz from Kansas.

After meeting at a college in Oz named Shiz University, Elphaba and  Glinda begin a friendship that is both strange and endearing.

Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. They’ve both been praised for their performances.

Wicked is based on the stage musical of the same name, which began in 2003. That show, in turn, is an adaption of a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire.

The movie is only the first part of the story; the second instalment, also starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is due out in November 2025.

Although Wicked’s events occur  before those of the Wizard of Oz,  some of the characters from the 1939 film make a cameo early on.

The Good Witch is a major influence  on Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz -  but it’s not the character's only movie appearance outside of Wicked.

In David Lynch’s cult classic Wild at Heart, Sheryl Lee plays the Good Witch in a hallucination experienced by “Sailor” Ripley, played by Nicolas Cage.

Initial reviews of Wicked say  Chu’s film does justice to the stage musical - and that it’s set to be  one of the revelations of the year.