Wicked Ending Hides One Secret Ariana Grande’s Co-Star Won’t Reveal
Wicked: For Good lands with a spellbinding finale as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande ignite Oz as Elphaba and Glinda, elevating the saga with a bold, lush vision that has audiences buzzing.
Wicked: For Good wraps up the whole princess-and-witch saga with a big, sparkly bow — and then drops one last little mystery on us. If you left the theater wondering what exactly Glinda whispered to Elphaba in that final stretch, you are not alone.
About that whisper
The moment hits near the end, after everything has calmed down. Glinda leans in, says something only Elphaba can hear, and... credits. Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba (and yes, the absolute vocal powerhouse from Harriet and Bad Times at the El Royale), told Variety she is not spilling what Ariana Grande’s Glinda said.
"I’m never telling anyone. It is movie related, I suppose, what she said to me, but it’s also us related as well."
Translation: it ties into the story, but it’s also a private Erivo-and-Grande thing. Cute, maddening, and very on-brand for a movie that loves a dramatic flourish.
Who made this thing (and who’s in it)
Director Jon M. Chu brings the long-beloved stage musical to the screen here — he’s the Crazy Rich Asians and Now You See Me 2 guy, which tracks once you see how glossy and maximalist this all is. Alongside Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda, the cast is stacked with familiar faces.
- Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba
- Ariana Grande as Glinda
- Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero (yes, the Jurassic World: Rebirth actor)
- Ethan Slater
- Peter Dinklage
- Colman Domingo
- Jeff Goldblum
- Michelle Yeoh
Erivo and Grande’s off-screen dynamic
Filming clearly forged a real bond between the two leads — you could see it all over the red carpet for the second film. The internet, ever the internet, tried to label their friendship a "non-demi-curious-semi-binary relationship" (per Poprant). For the record: neither Erivo nor Grande has used that term, and Poprant notes it isn’t an actual LGBTQ identity — it’s just a made-up phrase that caught a stray wave on social media.
Will there be more Wicked?
Even though this movie wraps the story, fans already want a third round. And Chu isn’t exactly shutting the door. At the New York premiere, he told Variety there are "a lot of ideas flying around right now." He even said his 8-year-old daughter has started sketching a Fiyero spin-off — an origin story — and he’s surprisingly into it: "She wrote this whole beginning, that I actually really love."
How it’s playing and where to watch
If you’re keeping score: the first Wicked sits at 7.4/10 on IMDb and 88%/95% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Wicked: For Good is at 6.9/10 on IMDb and 67%/93% on Rotten Tomatoes. And if you’re catching up, Wicked is available to stream on Prime Video.