Cynthia Erivo finally explains how Elphaba’s magic powers actually work in Wicked: For Good

The Wicked films contain a confusifying amount of lore. Although we see Elphaba cast plenty of spells in Wicked: For Good, the film doesn’t ever detail exactly how she does this. Thankfully, Cynthia Erivo has gone into depth about how Elphaba’s magic powers actually work in Wicked and Wicked: For Good.

Apparently, Cynthia Erivo wasn’t content with the explanations of magic in the stage show versions of Wicked on Broadway and the West End. She and the director Jon M Chu figured out all the mechanics of the magic together. She told Deadline: “In the stage show the power is literally kind of not really even discussed. And it’s like the broom flies… And I was like, It has to be more than that… So I want to get specific about what power is.

No Good Deed will be stuck in my head until the end of time
(Image via Universal Pictures)

“And then [Jon M Chu] and I had a conversation that her power is dominion over gravity. So she can take or give, she can remove the force of gravity from things or she can give the force of gravity. So, she makes things land. And then beyond that, she has visions which we see, which we explore in the second movie as well. And because we keep talking about this unlimited power, what we see her do is grow it.”

Cynthia reckons Elphaba can fly even without the broomstick. She explained: “If she has dominion over gravity, she doesn’t actually need anything to fly, but that broom allows her to move faster. It’s like a motorbike for someone who could already drive.”

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Elphaba defying some gravity
(Image via Universal Pictures)

Elphaba’s magic in Wicked is innate, and doesn’t come from the Grimmerie. “Elphaba’s powers exist independent of the Grimmerie,” she told Today, “and because she has certain powers, she’s able to read the Grimmerie. It’s like she and Grimmerie have an intrinsic relationship, and so the Grimmerie answers to her.”

A deleted scene from the first Wicked film also explained why Glinda struggled to do magic until the very end of Wicked: For Good. Wow, these films makes the Stranger Things lore look simple.

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Featured images by Universal Pictures.