Wicked Movie Finally Casts Fan-Favorite Character Dr. Dillamond

One of the biggest questions surrounding the upcoming Wicked movie has been answered once and for all. On Wednesday, during Universal’s panel at CinemaCon, it was confirmed that Peter Dinklage will be portraying Dr. Dillamond in Wicked. Dinklage is an Emmy-winning actor known for his work in projects such as Game of Thrones, Avengers: Endgame, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The casting of Dr. Dillamond has remained one of the most elusive parts of the Wicked movie, with some fans of the original novel and Broadway musical wondering if the character would appear on the big screen at all. In the source material, Dr. Dillamond is a talking goat who teaches at the university attended by Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda (Ariana Grande) and becomes an ally of Elphaba. Although we don’t yet know how the Wicked film will present Dr. Dillamond onscreen, fans can now rest easy knowing that he will appear.

What Is Wicked About?

Wicked is a prequel to the iconic events of The Wizard of Oz, and tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (whose name later changes to Glinda the Good Witch), who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard’s corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba’s public fall from grace. The cast will also include Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James as Pfannee and ShenShen, Marissa Bode as Elphaba’s sister Nessarose, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Aaron Teoh as Avaric and Colin Michael Carmichael as Professor Nikidik.

The musical, which first debuted on Broadway in 2003, has become a beloved part of musical theater, ultimately grossing over $1 billion in total Broadway revenue in 2016. The original production of Wicked featured Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, both of whom had been among the wishlist fans have had for the movie adaptation.

Why Is Wicked Two Movies?

Wicked will be split into a two-part movie saga, with the second set to arrive in December of 2025.

“Here’s what happened: As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” director Jon M. Chu wrote in a statement when the decision to split it into two films was announced. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of ‘Wicked’ as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”

Are you excited for the Wicked movie? What do you think of Peter Dinklage being cast as Dr. Dillamond? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Wicked: Part 1 will make its debut exclusively in theaters on Friday, November 27th.