After 86 Years, Wicked: For Good Finally Explains the Weirdest Wizard of Oz Moment (And It Makes Sense)

The connectivity between the Wicked movies and 1939’s The Wizard of Oz is tenuous, and technically not official. Since the latter film remains under copyright protection by Warner Bros., and the original book by L. Frank Baum is in the public domain, Wicked largely pulls from that text as its primary source material. This can be seen in how the musical uses silver rather than ruby slippers, and no explicit reprisals of the songs from the classic movie occur (though there are references). Despite this, there are sly winks and nods for the audience, as well as changes that make you rethink the original story.

Though I find most of the retconning within Wicked to be eye-rolling at best (actually, the Wicked Witch saved the Cowardly Lion) to truly terrible (the shallow reinterpretation of the Tin Man), Wicked: For Good has a moment that stopped me in my tracks and made me really think for a second. The scene in question is one that maybe no one else noticed in the theater, but it made me actually ponder its implications and how it actually answers a question that’s bugged fans for almost a century. Spoilers for Wicked: For Good will follow.

Wicked: For Good Answers One of The Wizard of Oz’s Most Shocking Mysteries

There are a lot of details in The Wizard of Oz that are mind-blowing, even eight decades after its release, like the vibrancy of the “Horse of a Different Color” across its appearances or actor Frank Morgan playing not only Professor Marvel and the Wizard but three other characters in the film. One detail in the film that has always struck me as bizarre and inexplicable, though, is when Dorothy and her crew are off to try and kill the Wicked Witch of the West, revealing the equipment they’ve brought along with them.

As Dorothy, Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion begin to enter the haunted forest, they’re armed to the teeth. The Tin Man not only wields his trusty axe but also holds a giant wrench (both seemingly for melee use), while the Cowardly Lion carries a giant net and a big can of what looks like bug spray. Scarecrow, on the other hand, has one weapon to his name: a revolver. Yep, the Scarecrow is packing, and he’s a shooter.

For years, this detail has confounded fans about not only how and why Scarecrow has a gun, but what possible function it could have in the plot. After the flying monkeys attack, the weapon is lost, presumably scattered across the floor of the Haunted Forest along with all his straw. The gun and all the other weapons are included due to a scene cut from the film, the legendary “Jitterbug” dance sequence, but even with that added context, a gun in Oz is still a wild sight to see. Now, though, with Wicked: For Good, there’s an actually decent reason given for why the Scarecrow has a gun in The Wizard of Oz, and it makes a lot of sense.

Wicked: For Good wastes no time establishing the status of its characters in the time between the two movies, with Elphaba’s infamy as the Wicked Witch of the West reaching new heights, and Glinda fully involved in the Wizard and Madame Morrible’s big propaganda machine. Another major reveal at the start is that Prince Fiyero has become part of an honor guard fully dedicated to capturing the Wicked Witch, something that he’s clearly conflicted about, given his history with Elphaba.

Throughout the film, Fiyero and his fellow guards are fully armed for their mission, chasing Elphaba into the woods at one point and drawing weapons ahead of a potential encounter. These weapons aren’t swords, spares, or axes, though; they’re firearms. Despite not taking the form of traditional guns seen in our world, and never actually being fired throughout the entire movie, these weapons are unmistakably guns. This detail may even be forgotten by the end of the film, which has one last twist in store for the audience: Fiyero is actually the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz‘s story.

That said, the fact that Fiyero is packing heat for the majority of Wicked: For Good before finally completing his transformation into the Scarecrow is something that can’t be ignored. The Scarecrow’s most famous feature film to date has him carrying a handcannon himself, which makes the connection between the two pretty strong, and one that I’ll now always consider when I see Ray Bolger’s Scarecrow with his finger on the trigger, ready to pull at a moment’s notice. The Yellow Brick Road of connections between Wicked and the original Wizard of Oz may not be fully smooth, but the Scarecrow’s gun is now a mystery I’m going to consider resolved, as wild as it is to see in the most beloved family movie of all time.

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