Wicked: For Good features two huge transformations; Wicked's Boq and Prince Fiyero become The Wizard of Oz's Tin Man and Scarecrow, with their respective story arcs taking a dark turn, and Boq, in particular, is portrayed as a tragic figure.
In Wicked, we saw him become smitten with Glinda the moment he laid eyes on her. She's far more interested in Fiyero, of course, and unstead steers him towards Nessarose.
This movie sees Nessa become the Governor of Munchkinland after her father dies. However, when Boq attempts to leave, she uses her power to oppress the Munchkins, forcing the man she loves to stay with her.
Elphaba tries to intervene, but her sister casts a spell from the Grimmerie that, instead of helping her keep Boq's heart, leads to him losing in. In a desperate bid to save Boq's life, Elphaba inadvertently turns him into the Tin Man.
Reflecting on the experience of becoming Tin Man, actor Ethan Slater told Variety, "I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It looked like me, but it didn’t look like me. The thing that really blew my mind was it didn’t look anything like it did on the Styrofoam head because it had completely morphed to my face. I could lift an eyebrow, and the eyebrow would lift, and you could see my dimples come through."
In a separate conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Wicked: For Good director Jon M. Chu addressed a key scene that features Glinda the Good Witch locking eyes with the Tin Man. Does she know that the man who fell for her is now a heartless thing?
"I don't necessarily like to say exactly what it is...but yeah, in my mind, she knows it's Boq," he confirmed. "I think she recognizes, she sees it in his eyes. I think there's also something she knows inherently and it makes her ask herself, 'What has become of this world that I knew?'"
"That moment he looks back up to her and then turns away, that is him saying he doesn't need her anymore — because he has a new family of hate that's stronger than love for him," the director says of Boq heading down a dark path. "That, to me, was a big moment."
As for Fiyero's transformation into a Scarecrow, that comes when Elphaba casts a spell to protect him from torture after he's been captured by the Wizard’s guards.
Makeup designer Frances Hannon shared an interesting detail about that you might have missed on a first viewing. "[Jonathan] had blue contact lenses. When he goes to Scarecrow, we went back to Jonathan’s own color eyes, which are really deep, dark brown, to bring back the earthy quality."
"I used blonde in Fiyero’s hair as a very strong point to carry through that change," she added. "The blonde in his own hair in film one and the opening of film two, then develops into the straw quality from the field."
Last year’s global cinematic cultural sensation, which became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time, now reaches its epic, electrifying, emotional conclusion in Wicked: For Good.
Directed once again by award-winning director Jon M. Chu and starring the spectacular returning cast, led by Academy Award-nominated superstars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the final chapter of the untold story of the witches of Oz begins with Elphaba and Glinda estranged and living with the consequences of their choices.
Wicked: For Good arrives in theaters on November 21. You can get an official look at the Tin Man and Scarecrow in the X posts below (via SFFGazette.com).