How Will Dorothy Factor Into “Wicked Part Two” (and Who Might Play the Iconic “Wizard of Oz” Role)
Director Jon M. Chu teased that "there is interaction and some crossover" with Dorothy in the sequel
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures; Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in "Wicked" (2024); Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)Dorothy might soon meet the witches of Oz in the next Wicked film.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande bring down the house as Elphaba and Glinda in the new movie musical, but it's only the first installment of a two-part story.
Retelling a version of events prior to what fans already know from The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is directed by Jon M. Chu, who is already working on the final cut of the already-filmed Part Two, due in theaters a year from now, on Nov. 21, 2025.
For a very brief moment early in the first film, Dorothy is shown from behind as she walks the Yellow Brick Road alongside her pals the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion. But will she play a greater role in the sequel?
"In the [Broadway] show, Dorothy is around. They have to intersect, and you can only tease it so much," Chu recently told Variety. "I won’t say whether she’s a character, necessarily, in movie two. There’s a part of me that wants everyone’s Dorothy to be the whatever Dorothy they want. And yet, there is interaction and some crossover. So I’ll leave that up to Part Two."
Fans online have speculated that Alisha Weir, the young Irish actress who headlined 2022's Matilda the Musical and this year's vampire film Abigail, might be the one to play Dorothy in this version. (A rep for Universal did not immediately respond about the casting rumor.)
Related: Where Does Wicked: Part One End and What’s Next in Part Two?
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Alisha Weir at the "Wicked" premiere in London on Nov. 18, 2024Weir, 15, attended the European premiere of Wicked in London on Nov. 18. "So unbelievably grateful for last night! This movie is EVERYTHING and more," she wrote on Instagram after.
Judy Garland famously played Dorothy in the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. Fairuza Balk played the part in 1985's Return to Oz, Diana Ross starred as Dorothy in 1978's The Wiz, and Lea Michele played her in 2013's Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return.
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About the next film's plot, Chu teased to Entertainment Weekly that "if Part One is about choices, Part Two is about consequences."
"Choices are difficult to make, but when you do make those choices, sometimes the result isn't what you expect it to be. It can be lonely, it can be hard," he explained, adding, "There's a lot of soul-searching in movie two. They're asking, 'Is this the right decision that you made?' "
Wicked is in theaters now. Wicked Part Two is in theaters Nov. 21, 2025.
