Oscars Voter Reveals Why Wicked: For Good With Ariana Grande And Cynthia Erivo Fell Flat

Wicked blew the roof off in 2024. The sequel, Wicked: For Good, did not. With the 2026 Oscar nominations out, the gap between the two is pretty stark. And now an Academy voter is explaining why the sequel missed the mark for them — and it goes beyond what was on the screen.

The awards whiplash

The first Wicked scored 10 Academy Award nominations. For Good, on the other hand, was largely iced out when the 2026 nominees were announced. That disconnect is what this voter dug into in a chat with NewsNation.

Why the movie didn't land (for this voter)

They described the sequel as flat and emotionally distant — a big production that never quite clicked, even with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo front and center. The irony, according to them: the leads do have chemistry, but the story keeps them separated for long stretches, which didn't help the emotional payoff.

"The movie wasn't that great. The two have amazing on-screen chemistry but spent most of the movie apart."

The promo tour that became the story

Here's where it gets messy. The voter said the endless press cycle across Part One and into For Good did the sequel no favors. Instead of building goodwill, they felt it curdled into fatigue — and that the quest to seem ultra-authentic read as awkward. Their words boiled down to this: the viral moments overshadowed the movie, and the vibe turned some people off.

The moments that dominated timelines

• During a panel, producer Marc Platt grabbed Ariana Grande's arm. Grande looked uncomfortable, and Cynthia Erivo stepped in quickly. The clip spread fast, with reactions calling the exchange awkward and oddly intense for a promo stop.
• At the Paris premiere, a light question about describing each other's "auras" spun out. Grande second-guessed her answer in real time, Erivo answered with a long, poetic description, and the whole thing went viral as another example of the tour's strange energy.

The voter's take is that the non-stop, highly scrutinized appearances started to feel performative — their phrase was basically "like cosplay" — and that this cumulative weirdness fed into the industry's chilly response. They even framed the awards cold shoulder as a kind of mercy for everyone involved, which is a pretty blunt way to put it.

Paraphrasing their bottom line: the movie didn't work, the promo sucked the oxygen out of the room, and voters weren't eager to relive that environment during awards season. They also said, in so many words, that people were trying to protect Grande from anxiety flare-ups and Erivo from having to play bodyguard again. It's a striking claim, and not the kind you usually hear out loud.

Where things land now

Whether you agree with that assessment or think the sequel got a raw deal, the split between the two films is officially part of the story. If you want to revisit the high of the first one, Wicked is streaming. Wicked: For Good is available to rent with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. Decide for yourself where the magic dimmed — or if it did at all.