The Wicked Years
The Wicked Years is a series of revisionist dark fantasy novels written by American author Gregory Maguire. It is inspired by L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with elements also based on the 1939 film adaptation by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and other Oz-related books.
Unlike Baum's original novels, The Wicked Years is aimed at mature audiences and presents a dystopian, more cynical version of the Land of Oz than in other adaptations. The series explores several sociopolitical issues, namely the discrimination of sentient animals and racial tensions between various ethnic groups, and features many of the original Wizard of Oz characters re-imagined as antagonists or neutral parties. The first novel in the series follows protagonist Elphaba Thropp through her evolution into the Wicked Witch of the West, while highlighting the consequences her relationships and actions have on the land in her lifetime and beyond.
In 2003, the first Wicked novel was loosely adapted into a stage musical, which became the second-highest-grossing stage musical of all time. Its success inspired its own two-part film adaptation, Wicked and Wicked: For Good.
Novels
Main tetralogy
There are four main novels in The Wicked Years, each referred to as a "volume".The first volume in the series, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, was published as a standalone story in 1995. It details the life of the infamous villain from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, whose birth name is given here as Elphaba Thropp. The story is divided into five sections, following Elphaba through the social ostracism she faces because of her green skin, her schooling years with Galinda Upland, her radicalization in response to the persecution of Animals in Oz, and her final years as the Wicked Witch before being vanquished by Dorothy Gale. The novel was successful, and was later adapted into a 2003 stage musical, in turn adapted into a two-part film.
The second volume, Son of a Witch, was published in 2005. It details the life of Elphaba's son, Liir, over a decade-long period after the events of the first novel, as he searches for his half-sister Nor and incidentally finishes some of his mother's work.
A third volume, A Lion Among Men, was published in 2008, and was the first to bear the Wicked Years subtitle. It gives the backstory of the Cowardly Lion from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in parallel with the history of Yackle, a mysterious oracle introduced in the first novel who has an inexplicable connection to Elphaba. Their biographies overlap with the events of Wicked and Son of a Witch, with the present-day narrative set around eight years after the latter.
The fourth and final volume, Out of Oz, was published in 2011. Set immediately after the end of Lion, it focuses on Liir's daughter, Rain, as the Land of Oz descends into war.
''Another Day'' trilogy
In 2021, Maguire continued the story of The Wicked Years with a sequel series called Another Day, following Rain and her adventures in a new land known as Maracoor. The first book, The Brides of Maracoor, sees Rain join the titular brides, a flagellant community of quasi-nuns who spend their days weaving "the nets of time". A second book, The Oracle of Maracoor, was published in 2022, and the final book, The Witch of Maracoor, was published in October 2023.Other books
Outside of the tetralogy, The Wicked Years also includes Tales Told in Oz, a short story collection exploring the folklore of Oz; Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, a prequel focused on Elphaba's childhood; and the upcoming Galinda: A Charmed Childhood, focused on Glinda's childhood.In March 2025, William Morrow Paperbacks published the first volume of a graphic novel adaptation of Wicked, with illustrations by Scott Hampton.
Adaptations
Stage musical
While vacationing in 1996, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz came across Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and saw the potential in a dramatic adaptation. At the time, the novel's rights were in the hands of Universal Pictures, which intended to develop a feature film. After those plans fell short, Schwartz persuaded Universal and then-head of production Marc Platt on adapting the novel for the stage instead, to which they agreed with David Stone additionally joining as co-producer.Schwartz and writer Winnie Holzman developed the plot outline over the course of a year. While the musical retained much of the characters, story, and thematic elements from Maguire's novel, several changes were made to make it more digestible for general audiences, rather than the adult demographic the novel was originally intended for. Greater emphasis was placed on the relationship between Elphaba and her roommate Galinda Upland, with Schwartz stating: "Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda—who becomes Glinda—and Elphaba... the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies." Other modifications included Fiyero becoming the Scarecrow; Boq becoming the Tin Woodman and his feelings for Glinda continuing beyond their time at Shiz; Doctor Dilamond being fired instead of murdered; and Madame Morrible going to prison instead of dying. Notable omissions included Elphaba's time in the Vinkus, Fiyero's wife and children, and Elphaba and Fiyero's child, Liir.
By 2002, a crew had been assembled for the musical: Joe Mantello as director, Wayne Cilento as choreographer, Eugene Lee as set designer, Susan Hilferty as costume designer, and Kenneth Posner as lighting designer. Kristin Chenoweth and Stephanie J. Block portrayed Glinda and Elphaba in the developmental workshops before the latter was replaced by Idina Menzel. Tryouts were held at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in the spring of 2003, and the mixed critical reaction resulted in modifications to the book and songs. Broadway previews began at the Gershwin Theatre on October 8, before the musical officially premiered on October 30.
Unproduced projects
In the 1990s, actress Demi Moore won a bidding war to produce and star in a feature film adaptation of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, with Universal Pictures assisting in the purchase of rights from Gregory Maguire. Other actresses who expressed interest in adapting the novel included Whoopi Goldberg, Claire Danes, Salma Hayek, and Laurie Metcalf, and they had also been considered for the roles of Elphaba and Glinda along with Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson, and Nicole Kidman. Despite the project attaching Linda Woolverton as screenwriter, it failed to move forward after unsuccessfully courting a director and Universal deeming its estimated budget of $35–37 million "implausible". Stephen Schwartz soon persuaded Universal to adapt the novel for the stage, and Marc Platt took over as producer after Moore departed from the project.In a 2009 interview, Maguire revealed he had once again sold the novel's rights to ABC, which announced a miniseries adaptation of Wicked independent from the musical in January 2011. It was to be produced by Salma Hayek and her production company, though no further developments were announced.
Film adaptations of musical
''Wicked'' (2024)
Following the success of the Universal-distributed Les Misérables, Marc Platt announced a feature film adaptation of the Wicked musical had entered development. Talks had begun in June 2009, with candidates including Lea Michele, Amy Adams, and original stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as leads; Holzman and Schwartz returning as writers; and J. J. Abrams, Rob Marshall, James Mangold, and Ryan Murphy as directors. In June 2016, Universal announced Stephen Daldry to be directing the film and issued a tentative release date of December 20, 2019.Scheduling conflicts, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the film industry, resulted in a delay to December 22, 2021, before the film was removed from Universal's release schedule in April 2020; Daldry exited the project later in October. In February 2021, Jon M. Chu was announced as the film's new director. Production staff that joined in the following years included Schwartz, Holzman, Dana Fox, David Nicksay, and Jared LeBoff as executive producers; Alice Brooks as cinematographer ; Nathan Crowley as production designer; Paul Tazewell as costume designer; and John Powell as score composer.
In November, singer-actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were cast as Elphaba and Glinda. Jonathan Bailey joined as Fiyero in September 2022, and Jeff Goldblum joined as the Wizard in December; that same month, supporting roles were given to Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, newcomer Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, Aaron Teoh, and Colin Michael Carmichael. Peter Dinklage joined as Dr. Dilamond in April 2024.
Principal photography began on December 9, 2022, at the newly-built Sky Studios Elstree in Borehamwood, England. Filming was set to wrap in July 2023 before the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike forced a hiatus until November. Filming resumed and concluded between January 24 and 26, 2024. Production was done with heavy use of large-scale practical sets, including nine million tulips planted around the Munchkinland set, a yellow brick road paved with real mud, and a life-sized train to the Emerald City. Visual effects were handled by Industrial Light & Magic and Framestore, while editing was done by Myron Kerstein using Avid Media Composer. Post-production was completed by September 2024.
The film, titled on-screen as Wicked: Part I, held its world premiere at the State Theatre in Sydney on November 3, before releasing in the United States on November 22. It grossed worldwide against a budget, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2024 and dethroning Oz the Great and Powerful and Mamma Mia! as the highest-grossing Oz film and highest-grossing film based on a Broadway musical, respectively. Critical reception was positive, with praise for Chu's direction, the production values, and performances of the cast; the film has since appeared in lists of the best musical and fantasy films of the 21st century. It won two Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design, and was named Best Film by the National Board of Review.