fictional character from the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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Who plays the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good?
Actor Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) voices the CG Cowardly Lion character in Wicked: For Good.
Who is the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good?
In Wicked: For Good, the Lion who shows up in the forest to expose Elphaba's past to the other escaping animals is the grown-up cub from 2024's Wicked. In that film, after Professor Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage) is let go from his position at Shiz University, Professor Nikidik (Colin Michael Carmichael) takes over the class and introduces the students to animal cages, which are meant to discourage creatures from ever learning to speak. Elphaba is appalled, and with the help of Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), they free the cub from his cage and release him into the forest.
The Lion was terrified of being left alone in the forest and grew up fearful, and he blames Elphaba for this. When they cross paths again in the forest near the animal escape tunnel under the Yellow Brick Road, he tells his animal kin that Elphaba was the one who used the spell that forcefully gave the monkey guards their wings, implying she did it with malice. The animals are then distrustful of Elphaba and continue their plan to escape Oz.
The Lion is then recruited by an angry Boq to join him and Dorothy to retrieve Elphaba's broom for the Wizard of Oz, and get rid of the Wicked Witch of the West once and for all.
Who is the Cowardly Lion in Baum's book?
The Cowardly Lion first appears in the 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He encounters Dorothy as she's traveling to the Emerald City and tries to bite her dog, Toto. When she reprimands him, the lion admits he's a coward and asks to join her so he can ask the Wizard of Oz for courage and actually be the King of the Beasts.
By the end of Wicked it is set up that Fiyero would become the scarecrow and Boq would become the tin man. But who would become the cowardly lion?
Was the cub they used int he show real and does it become the Cowardly Lion?
Either I missed the Cowardly Lion at the end or they didnt show him, I did hear Fiyero talking to him though
I started as a very casual fan of the musical and a few songs over the past 15 years or so. Now, I’m a HUGE Wicked fan since the movie came out. Honestly, it’s one of the best American cinematic experiences in a long time. So much art, talent, craftsmanship, history, and passion were clearly put into this production. I felt it through the screen all six times I saw it in the theater.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve ‘forced’ a few people to watch Wicked who wouldn’t normally watch a musical or fantasy film. Two people, after separate viewings with no relation to one another, immediately complained about the movie being “bad” in part because of the overuse of CGI and green screen. My husband said he felt like he was watching a three-hour-long Nintendo 64 cutscene.
I ended up having really heated arguments about this because I have so much respect for the film and its filmmakers that I find these accusations ignorant. When someone mistakes a practical set for CGI, I immediately think they must not understand filmmaking at all. I also feel like these types of people are just being ‘contrarians,’ looking for something to complain about. If the sets were CGI, they’d complain. In this case, we have incredible practical sets, and they complain that it looks too good and must be fake. It’s infuriating. Rant over.
Has anyone else experienced this? How did you handle it? Have you lost any friends because of it? Have I made Wicked my whole personality now, or am I being unreasonable when hearing honest criticism?
They seem to take him off school grounds, they have their moment, and then Fiyero says he better get the cub to safety and dashes off but I assume there isn't a local lion rescue org nearby. Do we know what he does with the little guy?
I know that the cub becomes the Cowardly Lion but do the books or the musical say what happens him after his rescue?
Am I the only one confused on why people are having a hard time thinking about how they’re gonna tie up the Scarecrow storyline from the Wizard of Oz and Wicked? They could just explain he was pretending to follow along to Dorothy’s plan just so he could get to Elphaba and explain what was going on, and fake her death with her. Seems like an easy fix to me lol.
One thing I am actually concerned about is how they’re gonna make the Coward Lion be against Elphaba since she helped set him free and is clearly on a mission to help the animals (such as him) of Oz. What are your thoughts about this?