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"You're The Only Friend I Ever Had": Glinda's Response To Elphaba's Sad Wicked 2 Reveal Teases The End Of The First Movie's Best Aspect

Published

1 week ago

3rd April 2025

CinemaCon’s Wicked: For Good reveal teaser shows Elphaba’s line, “You’re the only friend I ever had,” and Glinda’s response demonstrates a sad component of the upcoming sequel. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo led the cast of 2024’s Wicked, playing Glinda and Elphaba in the Oscar-winning musical. The second half of the story will be out sooner than many had hoped, with the film set to be released on November 21, 2025. ScreenRant was among the audience at CinemaCon 2025, who experienced the first-look teaser presented by Universal Studios.

Among the details revealed from the Wicked CinemaCon Teaser are a few quotes from the sequel. In an exchange, we see Elphaba saying the aforementioned line to Glinda. Their divide was a crucial component of Wicked’s ending, with Glinda not wishing to take her friend’s side despite the revealed malevolence of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). As many fans know from the stage musical, the book, and the events of The Wizard of Oz, this divide will only grow in Wicked: For Good.

Glinda’s Response To Elphaba’s “You’re The Only Friend I Ever Had” Line In Wicked 2 Explained

Glinda’s Reply Seems Like A Shockingly Ignorant Betrayal

While Elphaba’s statement is solemn and evocative, it’s Glinda’s response that comes as the more significant shock. In the teaser, after Elphaba states that Glinda was her only friend, Glinda replies: “And I have so many friends.“ While this response is consistent with the cadence of many of Glinda’s lines from the first film, demonstrating much of the self-absorbed ignorance she showed at the beginning of the story, it’s more poignant and upsetting after the growth they shared.

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As the world retaliates more and more against Elphaba due to the Wizard’s propaganda, Glinda will continue to make excuses to herself.

This response seems like a put-down from Glinda, with her returning to the snobby ways of her past as a method of coping with the betrayal of her friend. She didn’t go with Elphaba at the end of the first movie, and it’s clear that their friendship is going to be strained by the experience. As the world retaliates more and more against Elphaba due to the Wizard’s propaganda, Glinda will continue to make excuses to herself. This line is the perfect example, showing how she’ll justify her actions through stubborn ignorance.

cover of Elphie with Elphaba looking disappointed

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The Sequel Will Miss The First Film’s Central Friendship

Ariana Grande as Galinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba looking in the mirror during the Popular sequence in Wicked

It wasn’t hard to tell from Wicked’s ending that Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship wasn’t going to last. We even saw in the film’s flash-forward sequence, as Glinda told the tale to the Munchkins, that they would fall on opposite sides. However, it’s important to note just how critical their beautiful friendship was to the first installment and how different the sequel will feel without it. Wicked: For Good is going to be a far more challenging cinematic experience, but that’s also what makes it so exciting.