Marta Bueno Arcos comments on the upcoming Wicked: For Good film, its use of colour and how muted and desaturated cinematography has seemingly replaced the vibrant technicolour of the past.
Good news for musical fans, the sequel to Wicked (2024), based on the Broadway show, lands in cinemas this November. Wicked: For Good (2025) is highly anticipated, as last year’s film was the recipient of intense fan love and critical acclaim. Central performances by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda earned nominations for the Best Lead Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, at the Academy Awards. These came alongside ten other nominations including wins for Costume Design and Production Design.
And yet, despite this success, Wicked (2024) was snubbed for its Directing and Cinematography at the Oscars. It is safe to say that the movie’s strengths lie in its visuals, showing detailed designs and storytelling through costume and set. These strengths earned the film well deserved praise, as did its musicality and score. Powerhouses Erivo and Grande successfully translated Broadway numbers to the silver screen. This begs the question, will the sequel follow in its success?
Watching the trailer for Wicked: For Good, many fans have noticed an obvious shift in style, particularly regarding their use of colour. While the first Wicked movie showed vibrant colours, to the point where Glinda’s pink and Elphaba’s green were vital during the film’s promotional and marketing campaigns, it seems like the upcoming film might be leaning toward a more muted palette.
This desaturation makes it hard to remember that the films and stage show are a prequel story to The Wizard of Oz (1939), which is possibly the most famous use of technicolour in film history. It uses technicolour to create its vibrant, magical world, starkly contrasting with the sepia-toned Kansas scenes. The film also made excellent use of technicolour by making one vital, vibrant change: changing Dorothy’s slippers from their original silver to an iconic ruby red. The film emphasized technicolour further through the vibrant shade of the Yellow Brick Road and the glittering green of Emerald City. Unfortunately, the process of technicolour has been obsolete for decades because of its high cost and complexity. But is that an excuse to have Wicked: For Good to look less visually appealing than a movie made over eighty years ago?
This use of desaturated colours in cinema is not a new trend, as many blockbuster franchises have rejected vibrancy and used more muted tones. For example, MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy films and Thor: Ragnarok seem to be the colourful outliers in a trend of Marvel movies that just don’t seem to appreciate colour. However, this use of colour (or lack thereof) is a very useful plot device. The Harry Potter franchise of the early 2000s shows a clear shift between the first four movies, which are full of colour, whimsy and joy, and the last four movies, which are much more grey-scaled and desaturated than the earlier ones. This shift illustrates the maturing characters and the escalating, deadly conflicts the characters face, showing transition from a playful children’s story to more serious, adult themes like war, betrayal, and loss.
And so, Wicked: For Good’s shift into darker, moodier colours seems deliberately chosen to reflect the shift from the beginning of Glinda and Elphaba’s story, their time getting to know each other in Shiz University, to this sequel, which is meant to encapsulate the events of the second act of the Broadway production. The desaturation of the sequel’s colours in contrast with the first is a deliberate move by director Jon M. Chu to reflect this shift in tone and themes. He has defended his choice from criticism. “I mean, there’s color all over it,” Chu told The Globe and Mail. “I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place. Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someone’s mind, then the real relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real.”
It is obvious from the trailers and the preview content that, while its colours are muted and desaturated, this sequel still can be a good watch, with a compelling plot, detailed costume design and a gorgeous score. As for its cinematography and whether Chu decides that technicolour belongs to the past alongside The Wizard of Oz is anyone’s guess, but we can only hope that what Wicked: For Good lacks in colour, it does not lack in spectacle, heart and theatrical flair.