The magical musical we have all been waiting for, the beginning to the end we travel through the “territories” of WICKED! Wicked: For Good released on November 21st, 2025, and has been a hit box office film. Earning over $470 million accumulated in less than a month from its release. Though there has been a take of some hinted themes within the movie. Geared towards some earlier and even present political events. The producers picked through some of these lines and scenes and found a loophole to still include these references. While some may not be all political, the play’s allegories can be recognized among the media.
One of the few scenes kept from the play was in the beginning when Boq goes to see Glinda in Emerald City. But unfortunately, he is held in Munchkinland due to the new rules of Governor Nessa Rose. As she took the spot from her father, Munchkin land has changed. Boq finds out that there has been a new restriction of Munchkins and animals from leaving Munchkinland, and if they were allowed to, they needed to go through a long-detailed process. This scene refers to the current restrictions of immigrants in the United States due to the Trump administration. Diving deeper into the issue, since there are restrictions, People and families are forced to stay at their homes and not permitted to visit relatives. Like Boq, who wanted to confess his love to Glinda, when Nessa begins to see this shift in Boq she starts to abuse her governing power and becomes controlling. Later in the film Elphaba also sings a song “No Place Like Home”, addressing the theme of finding a new home in the midst of chaos. That new home is a new atmosphere, but acknowledging the downsides can stem an idea of your true home. Where you come from is incomparable to that.
But how did Nessa possibly become accustomed to this power? In a scene, Nessa’s father granted Nessa her mother’s sparkling ruby slippers as a gift, stating that the shoes were to a gift to the future of Munchkinland. Glinda had also mentioned that Nessa and Elphaba’s father also “just happened” to be the governor. Only further suggesting that the appointment of Nessa was not by a popular vote, or inheritance. The family was manipulating the system so they could stay in power. Nessa’s father also had given her the governor role to prevent Elphaba from gaining power. And thus that leads Nessa into a wonky spot in the process. At sometime during the sequence, Elphaba goes to visit her in Munchkinland to ask for help, but then Nessa says “I can’t harbor a fugitive, I am an unelected official.” Symbolizing the position George W. Bush was in during the 2000’s presidential election, due to controversy and supreme ruling. Bush was also referenced in another scene where after Dorothy’s house crushed Nessa, Elphaba and Glinda began to argue. Elphaba had pointed out that she was murdered, and even after Glinda reassured that it was not the wizard’s doing, her death was a “Regime Change.” Back in the 2000’s during the Iraq war, Bush had claimed that to also be a regime change.
Speaking of Elphaba, she also had a controversial scene of her own. Turns out, Muchkinland isn’t the only place not in favor of a democracy, in the depths of Emerald city, secrets lie under their bustling metropolis. During the first Wicked movie there is a surrounding idea that animals were being stripped away of their rights. That animals were portrayed as villains and also inferior to the humans. In Wicked: For Good, it covers more on that topic in a scene where the Oz animals are hidden in a basement below the Emerald Palace, where they are locked in cages. This resembles the first accounts of immigrants effected by the Trump administration crackdown with ICE. Visual depictions of undocumented immigrants taken into custody by ICE and faced with unfair treatment. Such as the Trump administration’s “Operation Charlotte’s Web” down in Chicago, 200 immigrants were raided and arrested. About 75% of them were labeled as criminal aliens, while 10% were convicted of violent and sexual crimes. Hence the nature of custody of the animal’s underground, Elphaba creates her own “Underground Railroad” to free them. In the film the yellow brick road is in temporary construction, and Elphaba sees this as an opportunity. She disrupts the construction by breaking an entrance, and the animals fled freely in the underground tunnel under the road. We can see that Elphaba is being portrayed as the famous slave liberator and activist Harriet Tubman.
The hidden political means behind the Wicked: For Good film portrays the real nature of the Land of Oz. The wizard, portrayed as almost a dictator ties in the policies and the events that paint Emerald city into the face of fascism. This film can be relevant in todays society with the ongoing changes and guidelines, spreading into government corruption. A simple play could get you wrapped up in the parallels of a metaphorical mystery.
