There are obviously MASSIVE spoilers ahead for Wicked, Wicked: For Good, and the stage musical!
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To start, one of the biggest changes from the stage musical is that Wicked: For Good adds two original songs. First up is Elphaba's "No Place Like Home," which is clearly a direct nod to Dorothy's iconic line from The Wizard of Oz, when she clicks her ruby red heels together and hopes to go back to Kansas.
In an interview with the New York Times, composer Stephen Schwartz and writer Winnie Holzman discussed how the song allowed them to make it very clear to the audience that Elphaba never hated Oz, but she was hated in Oz for who she was.
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The second new song is "The Girl in the Bubble," which Glinda sings before deciding to go find Elphaba, where they ultimately part ways after singing "For Good." In the early development of the stage musical back in 2003, Kristin Chenoweth repeatedly requested a number for Glinda in Act Two; however, composer Stephen Schwartz never provided one. This number finally gives Glinda a second-act song.
In an interview with the New York Times, Schwartz explained that "The Girl in the Bubble" also acts as an homage to Billie Burke's entrance as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.
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Just like the addition of Elphaba's childhood in Wicked: Part One, this film adds a flashback to Galinda's childhood. The scene features a young Galinda trying to perform magic at her birthday party, but failing to do so. However, at the same moment, a rainbow appears outside, which is obviously a reference to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz.
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The film effectively splits "Thank Goodness" into two songs with "Every Day More Wicked" and then "Thank Goodness / I Couldn't Be Happier." With "Every Day More Wicked," there are now samples from previous songs, such as "The Wizard and I," "What Is This Feeling?" and "Popular," as the song is used to catch audiences up on what the characters have been up to since the first movie.
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Also, the movie cuts Madame Morrible's verse from "Thank Goodness." In the musical, she sings, "The day you were first summoned to an audience with Oz."
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The movie adds scenes showing what Elphaba has been doing to disrupt The Wizard's plans, such as freeing the animals who have been forced to build the Yellow Brick Road. The stage show alludes to what Elphaba has been up to since leaving Glinda at the end of Act One, but the movie is able to show it.
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Wicked: For Good includes a new scene of Elphaba visiting Glinda right before her wedding to Fiyero, which doesn't happen in the stage version. The scene also features Elphaba's line, "We can't all come and go by bubble," which occurs during their physical fight in the stage musical.
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The movie actually shows Glinda and Fiyero's wedding ceremony, with Glinda walking down the aisle, before the event is interrupted by animals escaping from The Wizard's captivity, thanks to Elphaba. This also changes the setting for "I'm Not That Girl (Reprise)."
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Glinda is part of "Wonderful" in Wicked: For Good, but doesn't appear in the number on Broadway. Instead, it's just The Wizard and Elphaba. With the addition of Glinda, some lyrics have also been added for her, particularly a callback to "Defying Gravity," in which Glinda says, "Elphie, think of what we could do together."
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With the expanded "Wonderful" number for the movie adaptation, we also get a "Dancing Through Life" callback that doesn't exist in the stage show either. During "Wonderful," Glinda and Elphaba recreate their dance from the Ozdust Ballroom.
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Also in "Wonderful," there are lyric changes for The Wizard as well. In fact, the entire beginning of the song starts differently in the movie than it does in the stage musical. In Wicked: For Good, the song begins with The Wizard explaining his time working at a circus.
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In Wicked on stage, the Cowardly Lion is only seen in Act Two in the form of his tail, when Boq, who has now been turned into the Tin Man, tries to get him to tell everyone about what the Wicked Witch did to him during "March of the Witch Hunters." However, in the movie, the Cowardly Lion gets a very small speaking part where he explains his grudge against Elphaba during "No Place Like Home."
"March of the Witch Hunters" also now includes a look between Glinda and the Tin Man, with it being made clearer that Glinda likely knows what happened to Boq.
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Dulcibear reappears and gets to have a moment with Elphaba before she escapes Oz. Elphaba's beloved nanny is inspired by a character from Gregory Maguire's novel, but she is never mentioned in the stage version.
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A notable change in "No Good Deed" is that instead of Elphaba also shouting Fiyero's name at the beginning, as she does in the Broadway musical, it's only Glinda.
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Additionally, in "No Good Deed," Elphaba has a flashback to her time at Shiz, specifically seeing Fiyero, which doesn't occur in the stage show.
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Similar to the first movie, Wicked: For Good includes more nods to The Wizard of Oz, notably an increased presence of Dorothy. We see her and Toto set off on the Yellow Brick Road with instructions from Glinda. She's also prominently featured in "March of the Witch Hunters," and then, we see her bid the Wizard farewell as he leaves in the hot air balloon. Despite seeing Dorothy in the movie, the adaptation retains the fact that we only see her shadow when she throws the bucket of water on Elphaba, just as in the stage version.
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Before Elphaba stages her death at the hands of Dorothy and the bucket of water, she and Glinda get to exchange a final moment together, namely telling each other "I love you." It was a moment that was improvised by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the set of Wicked: For Good. Elphaba's "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine" was also unscripted.
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The movie changes what Nessarose wants from Elphaba once they reunite. In the stage musical, Elphaba enchants Nessa's shoes to allow her to walk, which is seen as what she wants in order to change her life. However, in the movie, this is changed. Instead of Nessa longing to be able-bodied, her desire is more emotional as she longs to feel the way she did when Boq danced with her at the Ozdust Ballroom.
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Due to these changes, Nessa's solo, "The Wicked Witch of the East," is also changed from what is sung on stage. She no longer sings, "Longing to kick up my heels." There's also the added verse where she tells Elphaba about her desires, singing, "That night at the Ozdust / Boq danced with me there / And it felt like he loved me then / That night when I felt I was floating on air / I want to feel that again."
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In the stage version, Madame Morrible is the one who references that Elphaba is a "child of both worlds" when she realizes that's why Elphaba has her powers. In the movie, Glinda is the one who tells The Wizard that Elphaba is a child of both worlds because she's his daughter.
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The flying monkeys are seen more throughout the movie than they are in the stage musical. For instance, they appear when Elphaba sings the new song "No Place Like Home," but they are also part of "No Good Deed," and they are seen taking Madame Morrible to prison at the very end.
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While the stage version leaves the endings for the animals more ambiguous, Wicked: For Good shows Glinda reinstating the animals as citizens of Oz. Namely, the movie shows Dr. Dillamond returning to teaching, although we don't hear him speak again.
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In the musical, Glinda is last seen telling the citizens of Oz that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead, and she reluctantly celebrates with them, just like we see in the beginning. However, the movie expands upon her ending by having the audience see that Glinda reinstates the animals and becomes the leader of Oz as she tries to actually be good. The movie also adds the Grimmerie opening for Glinda.
Director Jon M. Chu has said the ending has a few interpretations, whether Glinda has finally become a true witch and opens the Grimmerie herself, or if Elphaba opens it for her.
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The stage version ends with Fiyero and Elphaba walking away together, after Fiyero goes to Kiamo Ko and Elphaba emerges from the trapped door. The movie adds us seeing where they go, in that they walk into a desert-like scene, with Elphaba looking back toward Oz, aka Glinda, one last time.
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And finally, the last frame of Wicked: For Good is different than how the musical ends. Rather than end with Fiyero and Elphaba walking off together, and Glinda standing alone, the movie includes a flashback to Elphaba and Glinda sitting in a field, and the duo recreates the musical's iconic poster.
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