Why Wicked's Madame Morrible Doesn't Appear In The Wizard Of Oz

This article contains potential spoilers for "Wicked: For Good."

If you saw "Wicked" and are familiar with "The Wizard of Oz," you've probably already drawn some connections between the two. You might know, for instance, that a couple members of Dorothy's famous crew have already popped up in "Wicked," albeit under different names. And of course, if you've seen the original Broadway musical, you know exactly how the two stories intersect, as the entirety of "The Wizard of Oz" takes place in the background of the show's second act.

Jon M. Chu's "Wicked: For Good," which is set to arrive in late 2025, will complete the story, revealing all of the larger Oz connections to those who haven't seen the play live. That includes the character of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Dean of Sorcery Studies at Shiz University. Madame Morrible doesn't appear in "The Wizard of Oz," which, of course, is mostly because the character hadn't been invented yet. L. Frank Baum's first Oz novel was published in 1900, while the film adaptation came out in 1939. Meanwhile, Gregory Maguire's first "Wicked" novel came out in 1995, and the musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in 2003.

That's the boring, logistical reason why Madame Morrible doesn't appear in "The Wizard of Oz," but don't worry, there's a more fun retroactive lore explanation as well. As Act Two of the "Wicked" stage musical reveals, Morrible's influence is felt greatly during Dorothy's time in Oz, but she's mostly working behind the scenes with the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) during that time. What's more interesting is that in the story of "Wicked," Morrible is the reason Dorothy appears in Oz in the first place.

As seen in the first "Wicked" movie, Madame Morrible does possess a substantial amount of magical power, albeit far less than that of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). Specifically, we see her influence the weather.

You may already see where this is going.

In the "Wicked" stage musical, and presumably "Wicked: For Good" as well, Morrible is the one who summons the tornado that accidentally brings Dorothy to Oz. Her goal is to lure Elphaba out of hiding by putting her sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), in danger. Spoilers for "Wicked: For Good," but Nessa is the Wicked Witch of the East, who gets crushed and killed by Dorothy's falling house.

For the remainder of the show's second act, Morrible continues to scheme with the Wizard about how to bring Elphaba down and restore "order" to Oz under their tyrannical rule. Since the Wizard himself doesn't appear in "The Wizard of Oz" until near the very end, and since Shiz itself isn't a part of that original story, it makes perfect sense that Morrible doesn't appear. She's more of a behind-the-scenes actor anyway, stirring up chaos and pulling strings to influence the political climate. In the end, after the Wizard departs Oz and Glinda (Ariana Grande) assumes a higher station, she arrests Morrible for her crimes. In the original "Wicked" novel, though, Morrible has a different fate.

Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" is very different from the Broadway stage adaptation and its film version, both of which are essentially the same. The novel is far darker in most respects, and its timeline is quite dissimilar. Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), for example, gets married and has children with a different woman before he and Elphaba begin their romantic entanglement. Likewise, the Wizard commits far more egregious on-page atrocities, while Elphaba's training with the Grimmerie comes later in her life.

Madame Morrible's story is also very much its own thing in Maguire's novel. After joining a resistance movement against the Wizard's regime, Elphaba tries to assassinate the Shiz headmistress in the book, but fails. Years later, she returns to finish the job, only to find that Morrible has already passed away. Enraged at being robbed of the chance to kill her personally, Elphaba attacks Morrible's dead body.

The ending of the novel and the musical are equally unalike, though we'll leave those changes for you to find out yourself (should you so choose). Of all her incarnations, the film version of Morrible seems to be her most sympathetic and least villainous yet, so it'll be interesting to see what Yeoh and the movie's other creatives do with her when "Wicked: For Good" opens in theaters on November 21, 2025.