Before the green curtain closes on Elphaba’s journey, the first half of the film adaptation of the beloved musical, Wicked, is packed with subtle—and sometimes not-so-subtle—hints about what’s to come for all of Oz. While the plot of the first film revolves primarily around the rivalry-turned-friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, the meticulously detailed set designs, choreography, costuming, and carefully phrased dialogue cleverly weave in nods to the source material—L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wizard of Oz—and the upcoming events that will unfold in Wicked: For Good.
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These Easter eggs set the stage for the dark turns to come, the tragic transformations that await our favorite characters, and even the nature of the infamous tornado that whisked Dorothy somewhere over the rainbow.
7) The Cowardly Cub
When Elphaba’s professor displays a terrified caged lion cub as an example of how to prevent Animals from developing speech, Elphaba’s fury unleashes her magic in the form of poppy flowers that put everyone in the room asleep—everyone except Fiyero. This is not only the first moment that Elphaba sees who Fiyero really is under the bravado, but it also explains the origin of one of Dorothy’s companions.
When Elphaba and Fiyero set the cub free in the forest, the fact that he had been raised in captivity was not taken into account, leaving the young and fearful cub with a very pointed lack of courage. This scene establishes the cub’s nature, and, when combined with the loss of his parents to the Wizard’s propaganda, it explains the Cowardly Lion’s lack of courage when he meets Dorothy years later on the Yellow Brick Road.
6) Fiyero’s Pose
Perhaps one of the most frequently recurring visual hints is the way Fiyero tends to stand, foreshadowing his grim destiny. Throughout his time at Shiz University, he is frequently seen with his arms held out wide and slightly elevated—an immediate homage to the image of a Scarecrow fastened to a post. During “Dancing Through Life,” he is even seen in a full split, which is one of the Scarecrow’s physical quirks.
Fiyero’s very particular stance is a direct reference to when Dorothy first meets him in the original The Wizard of Oz, stiffly bound and strung up in a field. It’s a brilliant visual motif, subtly hinting at the inevitability of Fiyero’s transformation before the audience even knows he will ultimately become the Scarecrow..
5) Scarecrow Desk Dance
During the high-energy and showstopping “Dancing Through Life” number (that went viral almost immediately after Wicked was released), Fiyero’s carefree nature is on full display, but his movements carry a very pointed significance. When he climbs onto the desks at Shiz to rally his classmates to slack off with him, his dance style is notably clumsy, floppy, and almost puppet-like.
The specific, jerky movements are an almost exact mirror of the signature, loose-limbed movements of the Scarecrow from the 1939 film classic. This deliberate choreography doesn’t just show that Fiyero is laid back and loose; it’s a detailed physical foreshadowing of his future body.
4) Fiyero’s “Brainless” Life Philosophy
The lyrics of “Dancing Through Life” are filled with very direct and explicit clues when it comes to Fiyero’s fate. Fiyero’s core philosophy, which he explains to the uptight Shiz students, is all about avoiding deep thinking or focusing on being an intelligent member of the community.
Specific phrases such as “Life is painless for the brainless” and “Life is fraughtless when you’re thoughtless” are not just about his party-boy nature; they are a repeated, bold statement that his greatest vulnerability is his unwillingness to think before acting. Another line from the song—”Why think so hard when it’s so soothing?—takes on a new meaning when the very thing the Scarecrow needs from the Wizard is a brain.
3) Boq’s Tin Man Movements
When Glinda first meets the awkward Munchkin Boq, he is positioned in a very specific way, leaning to one side at a slight angle. When he shifts his weight and pulls himself up from a leaning position to introduce himself properly to Glinda, his movement is deliberately stiff and rigid, almost as if gravity itself pulled him upright.
This small detail in Boq’s very first moment on screen is a direct nod to the Tin Man, who is famously rusty and rickety due to years of immobility when Dorothy finds him. Boq’s brief mechanical movement reflects the very unnatural metallic existence that, ironically, is the only reason he is still alive during the event of The Wizard of Oz.
2) Foreshadowed Weather Manipulation
Wicked drops a massive hint that the infamous tornado that whisks Dorothy Gale to Oz is far from a simple act of nature on the Kansas plains. During Elphaba’s early lessons at Shiz under Madam Morrible’s private instruction, Morrible reveals that her magical specialism is the power over natural elements.
Morrible’s ability to manipulate the weather on a grand scale includes control over wind and clouds. This establishes one of the most important plot points: the tornado that sweeps Dorothy and Toto away is actually a calculated consequence of Morrible’s dark magic, setting up a key revelation for the next chapter.
1) Boq’s Last Name
The first and most specific clue regarding Boq’s future is hidden in a single word, easily missed amidst the frenzy of the students arriving at Shiz. Boq reveals his surname is Woodsman when he introduces himself to Glinda.
This last name is a direct and unmistakable reference to the Tin Man, his eventual and tragic identity. By giving Boq a very loaded last name, the film confirms his destiny early on, telling the audience exactly which classic Oz character he is doomed to become in the latter half of the story.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
