Courage, Lion. Courage.
“Wicked: For Good” has arrived, finishing the story about the star-crossed friendship between Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) as they find themselves on opposing sides of a war throughout Oz. Jon M. Chu’s second “Wicked” film, which adapts the second act of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s stage musical, brings in new songs and new looks at classic characters — including the “Wizard of Oz’s” Cowardly Lion.
But who plays the Cowardly Lion in “Wicked: For Good?” Read on to find out.
Be warned, there are spoilers ahead for the Broadway musical “Wicked” and reveals made in the second half of the show. If you want to go in totally blind, proceed with caution.
Who plays the Cowardly Lion in “Wicked: For Good?”
Unlike Dorothy’s other companions, the Cowardly Lion is a digital character, voiced in “Wicked: For Good” by Colman Domingo.
Did we see the Cowardly Lion in “Wicked”?
The Cowardly Lion makes a brief appearance in the first “Wicked” film — though, it’s an easy connection to miss without knowledge of the full show.
In the first half of “Wicked,” Elphaba, Galinda, Fiyero and company witness a demonstration at Shiz University of a cage that will prevent animals (talking and teaching throughout Oz) from learning how to speak. The students are shown a cage with a lion cub frightened inside. Elphaba, who becomes a freedom fighter for animals throughout Oz, uses her magic to put everyone in the room (aside from Fiyero) to sleep, allowing the two of them to rescue the cub and release him into the woods. It’s an important scene in the film, one that establishes a meaningful connection between Elphaba and Fiyero that will become more important down the road.
In “Wicked: For Good” (and the second act of “Wicked”), it is revealed that the lion cub Elphaba and Fiyero freed grew up to become the Cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz.” Though the release of the cub helped him gain the ability to speak, the Cowardly Lion (voiced by Domingo) blames the ordeal for making him… well, a coward. Rather than growing up safe and sheltered in a cage, the Cowardly Lion blames Elphaba for sending him into a frightening world — even though the lion cub trembled in fear while on display at Shiz.
Later in the show, the Tin Man (more on him soon) similarly blames Elphaba for the lion’s spinelessness, singing, “If she would’ve let him fight his own battles when he was young, he wouldn’t be a coward today.”
Who plays Dorothy’s other companions?
OK, this is where you’ll really want to click away if you don’t know how “Wicked” ends.
“Wizard of Oz” tie-ins enter the second half of “Wicked” in full force, with more elements from the classic story (including Dorothy and Toto themselves) getting folded into Elphaba and Glinda’s lives. This, of course, means the introduction of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man — though these aren’t exactly new characters in the “Wicked” world.
While it may at first seem like Elphaba and Galinda are the only “Wizard of Oz” characters present in their Shiz friend group, the second act of “Wicked” reveals that every member of their crew (consisting of Fiyero, Nessa and Boq) ends up being a known character. As such, Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero) takes on the role of the Scarecrow, while Ethan Slater (Boq) portrays the Tin Man — both the results of spells gone awry. Nessa (Marissa Bode) dubs herself the Wicked Witch of the East in an Act II song.
