Wicked: For Good writer reveals why they decided to make Glinda’s ending so different

Wicked: For Good has officially crash-landed into our lives, and yes, the emotional damage is real. The long-awaited follow-up to 2024’s Wicked brings the second act of the iconic musical to the big screen with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda giving us their final, heart-smashing chapter, with one major twist in the ending.

Credit: Universal

In Jon M. Chu’s sequel, the final moments hint that Elphaba may have done the unthinkable: Passed some of her magic to Glinda. The scene shows Glinda clutching the Grimmerie, the same spellbook Elphaba gives her, and for the first time ever, it actually opens for her. Longtime fans know that on stage, Glinda never gets to perform “real” magic, let alone unlock the Grimmerie.

Chu told Entertainment Weekly that the moment is intentionally loaded:
“Elphaba giving Glinda the book is her saying, ‘You know the power that you have, and you know the truth’.”

Basically, Glinda’s magic-girl era might be here… or not. Even Chu says there’s no definitive answer: “What are you going to be? We don’t know what Glinda does. We just know the possibilities are beautiful.”

Credit: Universal

But now screenwriter Dana Fox has revealed why the movie made such a massive change, and why Glinda’s moment with the Grimmerie hits so hard.

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Speaking to Deadline, Fox explained that the emotional key to that scene is Glinda finally admitting the one thing she’s always been ashamed of: She can’t read the Grimmerie. That confession comes after the film’s earlier flashback to Glinda as a child, desperate for magic she could never access.

Fox says that honesty is exactly why Glinda “earns” the Grimmerie opening for her at the end, something that never happens in the musical: “That is her deepest shame… The fact that she admits it, to me, is why I think she earns the Grimmerie opening to her at the end of the film.”

But don’t get too comfortable, because Fox immediately clarifies that her interpretation isn’t the “correct” one. She and co-writer Winnie Holzman want the ending deliberately ambiguous: “Did she open it for her? Does she know that it opened for her? Did she feel it? That should be everyone’s moment to decide.”

So whether you believe Glinda finally unlocked her own inner power, or that Elphaba sent one last magical “I love you” from afar, the film wants you to choose your own ending.