Coleman Domingo missed the Wizards game. The Oscar-nominated actor has been cast as the voice of the Cowardly Lion in ‘Wicked: For Good.’
The announcement was made on Instagram’s “Wicked” account on Monday, with Domingo hiding behind a stuffed lion before emerging and saying, “See you in Oz!”
Film director Jon M. Chu recently teased that fans would be excited to find out who it is. “Hey, wait until the actor who gave us the voice of ‘Cowardly Lion’ steps on the red carpet. It’s going to be wild,” he said.
The Cowardly Lion was the main character in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz. In “Wicked,” Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) play cubs rescued after Dr. Dillamond is kidnapped and the new professor brings a caged lion to class. The teacher explains that the cub will never learn to speak even if imprisoned. When Elphaba became angry, her powers created a moment for her and Fiyero to grab the child and run into the forest to release it.
“Wicked: For Good” shows this child fully grown into a cowardly lion who blames Elphaba for his situation. The sequel’s timeline overlaps with that of “The Wizard of Oz,” as the Lion, along with Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow, travel down the Yellow Brick Road to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). He also appears in the musical March of the Witch Hunters. However, like in a Broadway musical, the characters do not play a major role.
Wicked: For Good will also see Erivo and Ariana Grande reprising their roles as Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland, as well as Bailey as Prince Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nesarose Thropp, Ethan Slater as Bokk Woodsman, Bowen Yang as Fanny, and Bronwyn James as Shensheng.
The sequel follows Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship tested as they embrace their new identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch of the North, and follows the events of the musical’s second act and how the consequences of their actions will forever change all of Oz.
Universal will release the film in theaters on November 21st.
