Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wicked (movie/musical version).
Entwined with the compelling origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West,Wickedshowcases several otherWizard of Ozbackstories, including that of Dorothy’s “Cowardly Lion.“Wickedprimarily follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), an ostracized sorcery student who is cast into the role of the Wicked Witch to cover up a conspiracy. Sharing the spotlight with Elphaba is her rival turned best friend Galinda (Ariana Grande), destined to become Glinda the Good. Along the way, theWickedcastincludes other noteworthy Ozian figures, shedding light on their role in Elphaba, Glinda, and Dorothy’s stories.
In a tale largely about labels and misdirected anger, Elphaba’s encounters with familiar characters contribute to her building frustration with the public and how she feels like she can’t do anything right. Even so, foreveryWizard of Ozcharacter who appears inWicked, the Cowardly Lion occupies a unique space in the narrative.The mild absurdity of howWickeduses the Cowardly Lion piles onto the obstacles Elphaba faces,illustrating the fraught circumstances of Oz and challenging Glinda to stand with her friend, which she should have done all along.
Elphaba Saves The Cowardly Lion As A Cub In Wicked
Elphaba & Fiyero Rescue A Lion Club From Their Cruel Teacher
Following their goat professorDr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage)being dismissed from Shiz University’s faculty, the students inWickedare instructed by a vicious replacement who aims to impart upon them a desire for the systematic oppression of Oz’s anthropomorphic animal population. The new teacher brings a caged lion cub to class, demonstrating how imprisoning him from youth will result in him never learning to speak at all.Elphaba, who is close with Dillamond and advocates for the animals throughoutWicked, causes a magical commotion, allowing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) to grab the lion cubbefore they both run from the classroom.
Throughout the encounter, Elphaba is only gentle and sympathetic towards the cub, showing deep compassion.
Elphaba and Fiyero go out into the woods somewhere near Shiz and set the lion cub free. Throughout the encounter, Elphaba is only gentle and sympathetic towards the cub, showing deep compassion. This adventure coincides with Elphaba and Fiyero’s budding feelings for each other and is something they share going forward. Ultimately, Elphaba’s passionate responses towards injustice draw Fiyero to her, inspiring him to act the same way. While this causes tension with Glinda, who is for all intents and purposes in a relationship with Fiyero, the lion cub comes back around later in the story.
What Happens To The Lion Cub After Elphaba Frees Him
The Cowardly Lion’s Time Between Elphaba & Dorothy Is Skipped Over
Following being freed from captivity by Elphaba, not much is known about the lion’s experiences in the intervening time in the movie/musical version ofWicked. However, he grows up to be the famously timid character everyone knows. At some point,the lion meets Dorothy, as well as Boq (Ethan Slater), Elphaba’s former classmate who becomes the Tin Man.Boq bitterly blames Elphaba for his tin state, not knowing that she transformed him to save his life after her jealous sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) miscast a spell to make him fall in love with her.
During the “March of the Witch Hunters” musical number, Boq speaks to an angry crowd of witch hunters about Elphaba’s “crime” against him and tries to get the lion to do the same. Boq claims: “If she’d [Elphaba] let him [the lion] fight his own battles when he was young he wouldn’t be a coward today.” It’s flimsy justification for animosity when, if she hadn’t rescued him as a cub, he’d have been treated like a lesser animal his whole life and wouldn’t be having this conversation with Boq. It also ignores Fiyero’s role, who is mostly considered a hero in Oz.
How Wicked’s Cowardly Lion Origin Changes Wizard Of Oz
The Cowardly Lion Seems Unaffected By Supposed Prejudice Towards Animals In Oz
Like few other examples inWicked,the origin story of the Cowardly Lion shows how Elphaba can do everything right and something objectively good, and still walk away as the villain.It also frames the lion in a new light throughout the events ofThe Wizard of Oz, when there is supposedly a lot of discrimination directed towards talking animals, abusing them until they accept their inferior status and forget how to speak. Everyone in the Emerald City is nice to him, and he can speak, which is likely only because Elphaba freed him.
15 Iconic Wicked Quotes The Movie Must Include
The Wicked movie adaptation must include the most beloved and important lines from the Broadway musical, many of which are included in the songs.
The lion still gets his gift from the wizard (Jeff Goldblum inWicked) and finds his confidence. However, the events ofWickedsuggest that he is either very ungrateful to Elphaba for helping him out of an even worse situation or has been gaslighted by people like Boq into believing that everything wrong with his life wouldn’t be so if it weren’t the actions of the Wicked Witch of the West. In multiple ways,Wickedshows how people cast blame rather than work towards a solution, making the Cowardly Lion an intriguing facet of the story.
Wicked
Cast
Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
