Turns out, the Wicked Witch of the West has more mystery in her backstory than we thought. The Broadway musical, created by Stephen Schwartz, is loosely based on the 1995 novel of the same name, written by Gregory Maguire. The Wicked movie is closely based on the musical, so it’s not surprising that the storyline has sparked fresh debates among fans about Elphaba’s (Cynthia Erivo) true lineage. Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for Wicked Part 1 follow.
The movie, which hits theaters on Nov. 22, tells the story of Elphaba and her time at Shiz University before she embarked on her journey to Oz to meet the Wizard. The audience gets to see moments that led her to become The Wicked Witch of The West.
In the film, Broadway fans and newcomers get to see how Elphaba was brought up as a child. Because she has green skin, she is shunned by society and her father, Frexsparr Thropp (Andy Nyman), the mayor of Munchkinland. But when Elphaba gets to Shiz University to take care of her younger sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), she becomes highly favored by headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) because of her magical powers. The headmistress tutors her so that she can prepare to meet The Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
As we see at the beginning of the film, Elphaba’s late mother, Melena Thropp (Courtney Mae Briggs), had an affair while her husband was on a business trip.
However, the book and musical take a darker approach to the story. Before Melena and the mystery man conceive Elphaba in the musical, he gets Melena to drink a green elixir, hence why Elphaba turns out green. So, who is Elphaba’s real father? Many believe that her biological dad is The Wizard of Oz.
In the musical, Glinda (Ariana Grande) notices that the Wizard has the same bottles that Elphaba kept under her pillow at Shiz, which was the bottle that held the green elixir that her mother drank before conceiving her.
Meanwhile, Elphaba’s ability to read Grimmerie shows her earthly side, like the Wizard.
Many believe that the “The Wizard and I” scene reflects Elphaba’s longing for a father-daughter bond with the Wizard. In a TikTok captioned “When Elphaba finally finds out who her dad is lol,”, a fan commented “the wizard and I??? My dad and I!!!”. Another fan wrote, “I was flabbergasted when I found out 😭.” Honestly, if this theory is true, then I’d feel the same way.
As fans continue to put the clues together, this mystery will keep us guessing until Wicked Part 2 arrives in 2025.