Does the ‘Wicked’ Movie Follow the Book? Here Are the Biggest Differences

If you’ve been “defying gravity” waiting for the new Wicked: Part One movie to hit theaters, the agony is over — you’re headed to Shiz!

Led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, the two-part film adaptation is directed by Jon M. Chu. It’s a dual adaptation of sorts: following the Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s stage adaptation of the 2007 Gregory Maguire novel. Hitting the silver screen on Nov. 22, Wicked: Part One has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association.

Before you head down the yellow brick road: be warned there are spoilers ahead.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire first hit shelves in 2007. The book asks the central question the musical and movie do: Are people born wicked, or do we have wickedness thrust upon us? But that’s about where the similarities end.

The movie and musical both focus in large part on relationships: between Elphaba and her sister Nessa, Glinda and Elphaba — not to mention Boq (Ethan Slater) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey).

But the book spends much more time laying out the social, political and ethical circumstances in Oz, as well as the nature of good and evil, than it does the entanglements of its characters. Young readers and those looking for a mostly lighthearted tale of friendship and acceptance need not apply: Some seriously adult themes including sexual assault, political unrest, infidelity, racism and the role of religion in society are all prevalent throughout.

While the musical and movie versions have some scary moments — many involving the flying monkeys baring their teeth and breaking through windows to get at Elphaba and Glinda, as well as a scene showing how the apes sprouted wings — the book is more insidiously disturbing and may lead to questions from younger children their parents aren’t quite ready to answer.

The book also spans a much longer timeline. Separated into five distinct sections based on the location they take place, the book takes readers from Elphaba’s birth and the circumstances thereof (which are much darker in the book than the musical or the movie), her time at Shiz, her journey to meet the Wizard, five years later when she’s living in the Emerald City, seven years after that (having first spent a year unconscious and six more mute and homeless), then seven years later when Dorothy drops a house on Nessa. The rest, as most of us know, is Wizard of Oz history.

Wicked: Part One ends on many Broadway fans’ favorite song: a soaring rendition of the inspirational “Defying Gravity.” For those who know the play well, the movie ends where the first act does. It still runs about 2 hours and 40 minutes (which is about the length of the entire Broadway show).

But take heart, and maybe a preventative bathroom break: That’s significantly less time than it would take you to read it.