Although Jon Chu’s film adaptation of Wicked largely stuck to the stage version for its first part, Cynthia Erivo has confirmed the sequel will feature two brand new songs.
The Elphaba actress appeared on Variety‘s “Awards Circuit” podcast and said she worked with the musical’s original songwriter, Stephen Schwartz, to compose an original number for Wicked: For Good.
“I collaborated on one of the new songs, and it’s so special to me,” Erivo told Variety. “When we filmed it, the entire crew was in tears. I hope audiences are ready — it’s a song that speaks to the heart of who Elphaba is.”
“I don’t know if you’re ready for it,” Erivo continued. “I mean, I love the song and I remember when we filmed it, the cast and crew were crying. So I don’t know. And I don’t know if that’s just because they were emotional that day or that’s what the song does. I feel like the song is very, very special. I don’t want to give you any more than that.”
The actress wouldn’t confirm the new song’s title, but noted, “I have a feeling that even the title will move you.” She did acknowledge that the sequel will feature both her new song and one written for co-star Ariana Grande‘s character Glinda.
She also teased of the sequel, “We’re diving deeper into the consequences of the characters’ choices. The story is richer, and the stakes are higher. It’s not just a continuation; it’s a transformation.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Erivo confirmed she is working on her debut LP, set for release next year. “It’s been written,” she said. “It’s ready. It’s coming for you next year. I feel like it’s pretty eclectic, but it’s my voice and it’s vocal-forward. So it just sort of happened that way. My brain works very weirdly. So a lot of the, you’ll hear in some of the music, well, all of the music, that a lot of the background, a lot of the musical padding is my voice. So I’ve used my voice like an instrument, but there are flecks of soul, there are flecks of country, there are flecks of pop, you know. It’s this stuff that I have listened to my whole life.”
Wicked: For Good will arrive in theaters on Nov. 21, 2025. Erivo recently defended the decision to split the musical into two parts in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “You can follow these women behind the scenes a little bit more, and you get to learn about the two of them,” she said. “We’ve expanded on their relationship as friends. That’s a really important special thing that you have in the show, but here you really get to go with them in that. We’ve got something really special.”
Chu added of the tone of the sequel, “There is lots of lightness in the movie. There’s a lot of fun parts. We’ve not forgotten about that, but there’s a matureness and a nuance to it that we earn from the first movie. The second movie really gets to play with [that maturity].”