Photo: Universal Pictures

Spoilers ahead for Badthe Broadway musical, film adaptation and original novel.

If you somehow didn’t know that the movie version of Bad only tells half a story, you’re forgiven – the trailers have done a good job of hiding the fact that the film ends with a cliffhanger. The two hour and forty minute film is an adaptation of the first act of Bad the stage musical, with Bad: Part Two – based on the second act – in theaters on November 21, 2025. That could qualify the next twelve months as the longest intermission in history. Not since Kevin Costner’s conclusion Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is the audience left in such suspense?

It is to his credit that Bad manages to feel like a complete film, even though there is still so much story to be told. And we’re not exactly in the dark about what’s going to happen, thanks to Gregory Maguire’s long-running Broadway musical and 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the Weston which the show is based. To help you navigate the long year ahead, we’ve rounded up the ending of the first film, and what to expect in the next film.

In the song “The Wizard and I,” Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, lets us know that she has been waiting since birth to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), but soon after she and her roommate Glinda, played by Ariana Grande, arriving in the Emerald City, they discover that he is just a man. The headmistress of the Wizarding and Shiz University, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), convinces Elphaba to read from the Grimmerie, the ancient book of spells, and her incantation inadvertently creates an army of flying monkey spies. She realizes that she has been used – and that the Wizard is a fraud with no real power.

Elphaba refuses to join forces with the Wizard and Madame Morrible, who lead the persecution of animals to manipulate the masses and gain power. Elphaba runs away with the Grimmerie, and the Wizard sends the palace guards to capture her. Meanwhile, Morrible announces to all of Oz that Elphaba is a dangerous enemy who must be stopped and labels her an evil witch.

Glinda catches up with Elphaba and tries to convince her to apologize to the wizard and join him. Elphaba has seen too much and doesn’t want to anymore. Something has changed in her! Something is not the same! Elphaba casts a spell to try to give herself wings, but only manages to enchant a broomstick to fly – good enough to allow her to escape. She almost convinces Glinda to join her, but Glinda can’t do it and instead gives her former friend a very attractive cape. When the palace guards arrive, Elphaba flies out the window (well, falls and then flies), dodges the flying monkeys, performs “Defying Gravity” and promises that “no wizard that is or was will ever bring me down.”

Madame Morrible’s words have a profound effect on the Ozians, who now see Elphaba as a terrifying threat. Elphaba’s sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) is shocked, but not as much as their father (Andy Nyman), who appears to be dying of shock. Back at the wizard’s palace, Morrible tells the palace guards to let Glinda go – and despite everything Glinda has seen, she and Morrible embrace. High above them, Elphaba sounds her battle cry and flies off into the distance.

No. Thank goodness.

We can probably accept it Bad: Part Two will closely follow the second act of the musical. The first film, while significantly expanded with some character additions, is a very faithful adaptation of the source material. The second film may add more material: Act Two is shorter and likely needs more reinforcement, which could explain why composer Stephen Schwartz previously revealed there will be at least two new songs. However, in terms of plot, the musical can give us a clear idea of ​​what we will see in a year.

Assuming there are no major deviations, Bad: Part Two should continue with Glinda, now renamed Glinda the Good, and promoting the positive atmosphere among Ozians, even as the Wizard and his press secretary, Madame Morrible, continue to spread lies about the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda has forced herself into an engagement to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who serves as Captain of the Guard for the Wizard, despite still being loyal to Elphaba. He is less than happy to hear that he is going to marry Glinda, and runs away to find the witch he truly loves.

Elphaba’s sister Nessa must make an abrupt U-turn for her transformation into the Wicked Witch of the East – and that’s hoping Bad: Part Two adds a little bit of nuance. In the musical, she is now governor of Munchkinland after her father’s death, and has prevented Munchkins from leaving so she can keep Boq (Ethan Slater) by her side as a servant. Elphaba arrives with the Grimmerie in tow and magics Nessa’s shoes so she can walk (the film may want to tweak this plot point as well). When Boq announces he is leaving to confess his love to Glinda, Nessa tries to cast her own spell and ends up destroying his heart, so Elphaba is forced to turn him into a tin man. (The first film gives Boq the last name “Woodsman,” so this development isn’t much of a surprise.)

Elphaba and Fiyero finally get together, but their very sexy duet is interrupted when Elphaba realizes that a flying house has put Nessa in danger. Madame Morrible wants to use Nessa’s death to force Elphaba out of hiding, so she created a cyclone to take Dorothy Gale to Oz and – well, if you’ve seen it The Wizard of Ozyou know how that ends for the Wicked Witch of the East. When Elphaba arrives at the site of her crushed sister, she and Glinda finally cross paths again. The two argue over Fiyero and the fact that Glinda handed over Nessa’s enchanted shoes to Dorothy before sending the girl onto the yellow brick road.

As we know, it’s all a trap and Elphaba is almost captured until Fiyero reveals himself as a double agent and helps her escape. He is taken away and Elphaba casts a spell to protect him as he sings “No Good Deed,” a bitter “breaking bad” showstopper that is one of Act Two’s main selling points. At the same time, an angry mob of Ozians is ready to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy’s friends have personal vendettas against her. The Tin Woodman, formerly known as Boq, wants revenge on Elphaba for what she made of him – even if it was to save his life – and the Cowardly Lion somehow blames Elphaba for being a coward , as he is an adult version of the Lion that Elphaba and Fiyero rescue within Bad.

Elphaba and Glinda eventually make peace, with Glinda offering to tell everyone the truth about the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba urges her not to do so, as it would also turn the Ozians against Glinda. The former best friends sing “For Good,” which is Act Two’s other major selling point, assuming you’re someone who appreciates impeccable harmony and howling for friendship. Glinda watches in horror as Dorothy throws water on Elphaba, seemingly melting her Bad has a happier ending, and we can expect the same from the film. After Glinda arrests Morrible, she delivers Elphaba’s green glass bottle to the Wizard, who finally understands that he orchestrated his biological daughter’s death. Of course, Elphaba only faked her death for a life of freedom with Fiyero, who is transformed into the Scarecrow under her spell – with Glinda never knowing their true fate.

Like the second Bad film wants to expand on material from Act Two of the musical, there are certainly plenty of opportunities for additional context, added scenes and new characters. They have to fit the two new songs in somewhere! A possible source for these additions is Maguire’s original novel, which served as loose inspiration for the musical. (Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book by Bad the musical, worked with Dana Fox on the screenplay for the films.) The challenge here is that Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is a much darker and more complex version of the story, with more complicated politics, brutal violence and kinky sex that could one day be included in a family-friendly musical – or a PG-rated movie.

Apart from the substantive suitability, Bad: Part Two would have to deviate far from the musical to get out of the novel. For example, Fiyero is unlikely to end up in an arranged marriage (not with Glinda) and have an affair with Elphaba. With that in mind, we probably won’t meet Elphaba’s son Liir unless the filmmakers are keen to adapt more of Maguire’s novels. Liir is the main character of his first Bad sequel, the incredibly titled Son of a witch.

A big part of the novel Bad takes place in Fiyero’s castle Kiamo Ko, where Elphaba and Liir live with Fiyero’s widow Sarima. (While the book Elphaba fantasizes that the Scarecrow is secretly a Fiyero in disguise, he is actually dead.) Sarima is a fascinating character, but one we probably won’t see in Part two. Assuming the film wants to maintain the PG rating of the first film – and keep Elphaba less morally gray than in the book – we probably won’t get her accidental murder of a chef with bees either (don’t ask) or her bludgeoning an already dead Madame Morrible.

The only area where Part two seems most likely to draw on Maguire’s novel in scenes involving Elphaba and Dorothy. Dorothy is only really alluded to in the musical (she is just offstage or seen in the shadows), but she plays a larger role in the book – including a pivotal scene where she reveals that she only wants Elphaba’s forgiveness for the murder of Nessarose. The first Bad film that borrows heavily from The Wizard of Oz with multiple Easter eggs and allusions to the 1939 film, so the second part might want to do a bit more with Dorothy and her friends. Including a few Dorothy scenes from Maguire might help deepen one of the scenes Bad‘s main themes: good and evil are a matter of perspective.