We’re not in Kansas anymore… Wicked has found its Cowardly Lion in a Walking Dead alum.
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Fear the Walking Dead star Colman Domingo is trading zombies for yellow bricks. The Oscar-nominated actor will roar to life as the voice of the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good.
Monday, Wicked‘s Instagram account made it official: Domingo, playing coy behind a lion stuffed animal, finally showed his face with a roaring “See you in Oz!”
Wicked filmmaker Jon M. Chu had recently teased the thrilling reveal for fans. “Man, wait until the red carpet when the actor who gave us the Cowardly Lion’s voice steps foot on it. It’ll be wild,” he gushed to Deadline.
How the Cowardly Lion Fits into the Wicked Storyline
The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz has a unique origin in Wicked. In the musical, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) rescue him as a cub from a new professor’s class after Dr. Dillamond is taken away. When the teacher claims the caged cub will never speak, Elphaba’s anger unleashes her powers, allowing her and Fiyero to free him into the forest.
Wicked: For Good shows the Cowardly Lion, now grown, blaming Elphaba for his plight. Overlapping with The Wizard of Oz timeline, the lion joins Dorothy, the Tin Man, and Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
Wicked: For Good brings back Erivo as Elphaba Thropp and Ariana Grande as Glinda Upland. The cast also includes Bailey as Prince Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nessarose Thropp, Ethan Slater as Boq Woodsman, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, and Bronwyn James as ShenShen.
The sequel follows the second act of the musical, focusing on Elphaba and Glinda as their friendship is tested. As Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda becomes the Good Witch of the North, their actions shape the future of Oz.
Wicked: For Good conjures in theaters on Nov. 21.