9 Wicked Easter Eggs You Probably Missed

Spoilers for Wicked Part One ahead. After 20 years on Broadway and a decade in development, the Wicked movie — well, the first half — finally hit theaters on Nov. 22, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Given the lengthy production timeline, director Jon M. Chu and his crew had lots of time to incorporate many Easter eggs, sending viewers on a Taylor Swift-like investigation of sorts.

For those who haven’t seen the Broadway musical, Wicked is essentially the origin story of the two witches from The Wizard of Oz, Glinda the Good Witch (Grande) and the Wicked Witch of the West (Erivo), who is now lovingly known as Elphaba. The Wizard himself, this time played by Jeff Goldblum, also has a major role and is not exactly who he seems.

The other beloved characters in The Wizard of Oz will have a more prominent role in Wicked Part Two (no spoilers here), but the first film incorporates plenty of Easter eggs that point both to the source material and what’s to come in Part Two.

Much like Swift herself, the crew went deep with their scavenger hunt of sorts, incorporating sly references into the sets, costumes, choreography, and basically everything else imaginable. Below, revisit nine Wicked Easter eggs you might have missed on your first viewing.

Dorothy & The Gang

In the film’s first few moments, as the camera pans around the land of Oz, Dorothy and her gang of beloved misfits, including the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion, can be seen walking down the Yellow Brick Road.

Glinda’s Bubble

Grande’s Glinda makes her grand entrance in a transparent pink bubble that she pops to speak to Oz, nodding to how the Good Witch magically appears in The Wizard of Oz.

Boq’s Future

Boq (Ethan Slater)’s interactions with Glinda, for whom he harbors an unrequited crush, contain subtle hints at his fate. During their introduction, some of his gestures mirror the Wizard of Oz’s Tin Man. During “Dancing Through Life,” Glinda places a red handkerchief over his heart, and Boq jokes that he “cries a lot,” which aligns with the Tin Man’s behavior.

Nessarose’s Twisty Shoes

In a nod to how Dorothy lands in Oz, Elphaba’s little sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) wears tornado shoes in one of her first scenes. She also sports striped socks later on, a clever Easter egg that points to her eventual fate in Part Two.

The Magical Poppies

In the Broadway musical, Elphaba forces her classmates to weirdly move around in order to let her and Fiyero free the lion cub. In the film, Elphaba’s powers cause magical poppies to fly around the classroom and leave everyone in slumber, which is a nod to how Dorothy falls asleep in a field of poppies. And just like the Scarecrow in the original film, Fiyero is unaffected.

The Tiger In the Basket

After enchanting the classroom in a deep slumber, Elphaba and Fiyero free the little lion cub and take him back into the forest. Elphaba hides him in a picnic basket on the back of her bike, just like how the Wicked Witch carried Dorothy’s beloved dog, Toto, in The Wizard of Oz.

Fiyero’s Dance Moves

Some of Jonathan Bailey’s smooth dance moves in Fiyero’s big musical number, “Dancing Through Life,” recall the Scarecrow’s odd moves in the 1939 film, providing even more sly foreshadowing.

Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers

As Glinda gives Elphaba a makeover during her iconic number “Popular,” she takes out a pair of ruby slippers from one of her many trunks, which are a nod to Dorothy’s magical shoes in The Wizard of Oz. They even click three times, just like in the original film.

Not In Nebraska Anymore

While Dorothy’s famous tagline is “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” original Wizard of Oz author Frank L. Baum is actually from neighboring Nebraska. The state’s acknowledged subtly, like the luggage from Omaha on the train and a label on Elphaba’s invitation to meet the Wizard.