Was Wicked 2 Made With AI? The Director Finally Sets the Record Straight
No bots behind the broomstick: Wicked 2 director Jon M. Chu says the sequel is 100% human-made—every performance and every frame—as anticipation surges for the return to Oz.
File this under 2025 sequel updates I did not have on my bingo card: Jon M. Chu wants you to know Wicked 2 did not touch generative AI. Nothing. Nada. If you are allergic to glossy machine-made anything, this is your movie.
Chu draws a line: no AI
"Generative AI was not used on this movie."
That line comes straight from Chu in a chat with The Guardian, and he did not leave it vague. He says every jitter, wobble, and imperfect little beat you will see or hear in Wicked: For Good is there because humans made it. If the camera shivers, a dancer is a hair off the count, a string comes in a tick late, or a nose crinkles at the wrong time, that is the point. He even frames those rough edges as part of the film's message. For a big studio musical, that is a pretty nerdy process note to plant a flag on — and honestly, kind of refreshing.
How Part Two plays with Part One
Chu also told Variety the sequel is built as the back half of a two-part story, not a new chapter bolted on later. He says once you see the second movie, you will not be able to separate it from how you remember the first. All the setups from Part One — the friendship, the heartbreak, the magic — are designed to collide in Part Two. Translation: this is the payoff.
Release timing and where we left off
Wicked: For Good lands on November 21, 2025. The first film, simply titled Wicked, arrived in 2024, introduced Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, and went on to score ten Academy Award nominations. So yes, the bar is high and the anticipation is real — AI-free rough edges and all.