It finally happened. After years of development hell, leaked set photos of Ariana Grande in a bubble, and endless Broadway fan speculation, we got a real look. The Wizard of Oz trailer—specifically the one for Jon M. Chu’s Wicked—didn’t just drop; it basically took over the internet. You’ve probably seen the footage by now. It’s vibrant. It’s loud. It feels massive. But there is a very specific reason why this particular reimagining of Oz is hitting differently than the dozens of other remakes we’ve seen over the last century.
Honestly, Oz is a crowded field. We’ve had the 1939 classic, the psychedelic fever dream of The Wiz, James Franco’s prequel, and even that dark Emerald City show that everyone forgot about. So why does this one feel like an event?
It’s the scale.
Most modern blockbusters look like they were filmed inside a gray shoebox with a green screen taped to the wall. This trailer shows something else. You can see the actual grass. You can see the texture of the costumes. Jon M. Chu, the director who gave us Crazy Rich Asians, insisted on building massive, physical sets. He planted actual tulip fields. When you see Elphaba and Glinda walking through Shiz University in the Wizard of Oz trailer, you aren't just looking at pixels. You’re looking at a world that actually existed on a soundstage in London.
The Wizard of Oz Trailer: Why the Visuals Matter So Much Right Now
The first thing people noticed in the footage wasn't the singing. It was the color. For a long time, movies have been stuck in this "muted" phase where everything looks like it was washed in dishwater. This trailer flips the script. The Emerald City actually looks... emerald.
Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard. It’s perfect casting, really. He brings that eccentric, slightly staccato energy that makes the character feel more like a charismatic cult leader than a generic villain. In the trailer, we see him lurking behind the machinery, and it’s a direct nod to the "man behind the curtain" trope we’ve known since childhood. But here’s the twist: this isn't the bumbling old man from the 1939 film. This is a man who has seized power through propaganda.
Breaking Down the "Defying Gravity" Tease
You can't talk about a Wizard of Oz trailer involving the Wicked storyline without mentioning the song. You know the one. That final, soaring belt that Idina Menzel made famous on Broadway.
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The trailer handles it surprisingly well. It doesn't give away the whole climax. Instead, it uses the opening chords as a rhythmic heartbeat throughout the footage. Cynthia Erivo, playing Elphaba, has this raw, grounded presence. When she finally grabs that broom and starts to run towards the balcony, the cinematography shifts. It gets wider. It feels more cinematic. It’s a far cry from the stage version where she’s basically standing on a hydraulic lift.
- The lighting shifts from the warm yellows of Shiz University to the cold, oppressive greens of the Wizard’s palace.
- We see the Flying Monkeys, but they aren't the cute-creepy puppets of the past. They look like biological experiments gone wrong, which fits the darker political undertones of Gregory Maguire’s original novel.
- The relationship between Elphaba and Glinda is the core. The trailer spends a lot of time showing them as friends before the world forces them into the roles of "Wicked" and "Good."
What Most People Miss About the Story
There’s a common misconception that this is just a prequel to Dorothy’s story. It’s more complicated. Wicked is a revisionist history. It asks a simple question: What if the person we were told was the villain was actually the one trying to do the right thing?
In the Wizard of Oz trailer, we see glimpses of the "Animal" subplot. In this version of Oz, animals are losing their ability to speak. They are being oppressed. Elphaba is the only one who cares. Glinda, played by Ariana Grande, is caught between her genuine affection for her friend and her desire to be popular and powerful. It’s a very human story wrapped in a lot of glitter and pink tulle.
Wait, we should talk about the pink.
Ariana Grande’s Glinda is a masterclass in costume design. Paul Tazewell, who did the costumes, clearly leaned into the "Bubble" aesthetic. Everything she wears is voluminous. It’s meant to take up space. It contrasts perfectly with Elphaba’s sharp, black, minimalist silhouette. The trailer uses these two colors—pink and green—to create a visual tug-of-war.
The Technical Wizardry Behind the Scenes
This movie wasn't easy to make. They had to stop production because of the Hollywood strikes, which left the cast hanging for months. But that extra time might have actually helped the VFX team.
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The flying sequences look weightless. That’s hard to do. Usually, actors look like they’re dangling from uncomfortable wires. In the Wizard of Oz trailer, there’s a fluidity to the movement. When the characters fly, the camera moves with them, creating a sense of vertigo that makes the world feel three-dimensional.
Then there’s the audio.
Recording live vocals on set is a nightmare for sound engineers. But Erivo and Grande reportedly sang most of their takes live. You can hear the difference. There’s a breathiness and an imperfection to the singing in the trailer that you don't get with studio-recorded tracks. It makes the stakes feel higher. It feels like these characters are actually in the middle of a life-changing moment, not just lip-syncing for their lives.
Comparing the Trailer to the Original 1939 Vision
If you go back and watch the original 1939 Wizard of Oz trailer, it’s a completely different beast. It was sold as a "technicolor marvel." It was a spectacle of technology. This new trailer is trying to do the same thing for the 2020s.
It’s trying to prove that movies can still be big and magical without feeling like they were generated by an algorithm. There’s a soul to the footage. Whether it’s the way the light hits the yellow brick road—which, by the way, looks like it’s made of actual hand-pressed tiles—or the way the Munchkinland sets feel lived-in and weathered.
Why This Trailer is Everywhere on Social Media
TikTok and Instagram have been flooded with frame-by-frame breakdowns. Fans are looking for "Easter eggs" that tie back to the original books by L. Frank Baum.
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- Look at the Wizard’s head. The giant mechanical head he uses to intimidate visitors is a direct callback to the 1939 design, but with a steampunk twist.
- The silver slippers. In the original books, the slippers were silver, not ruby. The movie Wicked tends to bridge the gap between the books and the classic film, so fans are watching closely to see which lore the filmmakers prioritize.
- The cameos. There are rumors of original Broadway cast members appearing, though the trailer keeps those secrets close to the chest.
The Problem With Splitting the Movie
We have to address the elephant in the room. This isn't the whole story. The Wizard of Oz trailer we’re seeing now is only for "Part One."
The filmmakers decided to split the Broadway musical into two separate films. This is a risky move. Usually, when a studio splits a story, it’s a blatant cash grab. Think The Hobbit or Twilight. However, Jon M. Chu argues that they needed the space to let the characters breathe. The musical is dense. If you tried to cram "Defying Gravity" into the first 40 minutes, you’d lose all the emotional buildup.
By ending Part One with that iconic song, the movie sets up a massive cliffhanger. But will audiences show up twice? The trailer is doing the heavy lifting to convince us that there’s enough story there to justify two tickets.
What to Watch For Next
If you’re hyped after seeing the Wizard of Oz trailer, there are a few things you should do to prep. First, don't just re-watch the 1939 movie. Go back and look at the concept art for the original Wicked stage production. It helps you appreciate how much of that "clockwork" aesthetic they’ve brought into the film.
Also, pay attention to the supporting cast. Michelle Yeoh is in this. She plays Madame Morrible. She’s essentially the headmistress of the school, and in the trailer, she looks absolutely Regal-with-a-capital-R. Her presence alone elevates the material from a "teen movie" to a serious epic.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Watch the "Behind the Scenes" Featurettes: Universal has released a few clips showing the actual construction of the sets. It makes the trailer footage even more impressive when you realize those weren't digital backgrounds.
- Listen to the Original Cast Recording: If you aren't familiar with the lyrics, give the Broadway album a spin. It’ll help you catch the musical motifs hidden in the trailer’s score.
- Keep an eye on the second trailer: The "theatrical" trailer usually drops about three months after the "teaser." That’s where we’ll likely see more of the supporting characters like Boq and Fiyero (played by Jonathan Bailey).
The Wizard of Oz trailer isn't just a marketing tool; it’s a litmus test. It’s testing whether audiences are still hungry for big, sincere, high-fantasy storytelling. In an era of superhero fatigue, a trip down the yellow brick road might be exactly what the box office needs. It’s colorful, it’s emotional, and it’s unapologetically huge. Honestly, it’s about time Oz got a coat of paint that actually feels like magic again.