Wicked Spoilers

[hannahw]

Even the original movie depicted him as a fraud. Maybe not a villain but he was deceitful and refused to help Dorothy initially

[thistle]

Even in the original he sent a child to kill a witch before he would tell her how to get home. And this was a child that had already done him a huge favor.

[ariw]

Exactly! He’s always been the con man who by definition is the bad guy.

[_lLexa_l]

I KNEW I WASN'T CRAZY. I always remembered reading somewhere that the citizens of the Emerald City had to wear glasses to make it Emerald, but I couldn't find it anywhere and I thought I imagined it

[PlutosAsleep]

he was literally the bad guy in The Wizard of Oz 😂

[MikalaThurman]

I believe in every iteration/version of the wizard of oz (the wiz, tin man, oz the great and powerful, the actual books) he has also been a deceitful and cunning man who used others to get what he wants. Some versions just made him "nicer" than others, but he has never been a good guy.

[vanishingllama]

Man was always shady! Wicked just showed us how shady.

[Anitah]

He was literally a grifter/snake oil salesman in the Wizard of Oz. And by the end, he was a wizard that had no real powers and couldn’t help anyone in a magical way.

[aradiagonzalez]

In some of the sequel novels, they really double down on him being the villain. He deposed the native rulers of Oz, whisked away their only heir to be under the auspices of an abusive witch, and made himself a recluse due to his fear of the witches who ruled the other quadrants of Oz. His feats in the first novel as well are revealed to be carefully constructed ruses specifically designed to intimidate the main characters into doing his biding and consolidating his control of the land. His character, from the very beginning, is designed to be a conniving power-hungry con man.

[Ariennon]

The classic Wizard of Oz movie even proves this. Well, not that he’s evil, but that he has no power. When the main crew asked for their wishes (a brain, a heart, and courage) he didn’t actually make those come true. Rather he gave items that’s related to their wish (a heart clock, a degree, and a medal). If he was the Wizard that everyone said he was, he would’ve ACTUALLY gave them what they wanted. It doesn’t show you he’s evil but it shows you that he’s not what you think he is. Backing up the Wicked musicals claim that he’s evil and talentless.

Edit: Yeah I think I was just looking into this too much. I’m forgetting that the Wizard of Oz was a kids movie unlike Wicked. Well wicked is PG but it’s lore is slightly darker than the wizard of oz

[Ozzymandius]

I'm still here just shook that the witch under the house is a paraplegic without her shoes. That’s just unnecessarily diabolical.

[amethystimagination]

All the gifts he gave Dorothy’s friends were bullshit too in both versions. In the movie they were symbolic tokens of traits they already had and the book he straight up gives them placebos and lies about giving them brains heart and courage

[JulEnglefaris]

He's literally a charlatan. Like, literally bro!

[j.r.taylor]

The wizard also took over oz by force. He gave away the rightful ruler of oz called azma and gave her to a witch called momby.

[JessiRose]

This makes so much more sense. Cause like I’ve never seen the Wicked play and I’ve only seen bits of the Wizard of Oz but me and my boyfriend went to go see the movie today finally and I was seeing the emerald city and I was like “how tf did this man do this” but knowing he actually didn’t and it was just another layer to the scam makes it make so much more sense

[klnvuge]

Making people wear attached glasses is the least of the "who tf ever thought the Wizard was good" saga.Homeboy sold a BABY to a WITCH, a bad witch at that! Sold a baby just to become the emperor & had the Munchkins slaving.Then after all the mindfucking & trauma he caused, he had the nerve to give Scarecrow & Tinman pillows for replacement parts.PILLOWS! He slipped Lion a mickey talking about it was "liquid he saw Toto trying to get out of the hot air balloon time machine but kept right on steaming it which made Dorothy goofy tail self jump out.And what did Wizard do? Sailed his happy asss right on away🤦🏿‍♀️

[Rose_Stewart]

He was portrayed as a coward at best. The movie Oz the Great and Powerful literally has him as a conman who stumbled into Oz

[mystixall]

Is it bad that, Jeff Goldblum makes an attractive wizard

[zehnerevans]

Good point! If anything the dipiction if the Wizard in the MGM '39 movie is the property in the franchise that re-invints the Wizard as a bumbling, yet kindly illusionist, doing his best to keep the system going, while obviously in over his head, as he himself says in that film, 'I'm not a bad man, just a bad wizard.' That is a re-invintion, Wicked's dipiction of the Wizard as sinister and currupt, is a restoration.

[rivalthegrey.]

Even in the classic film, he says that he’s a good man, but a very bad wizard leader, which doesn’t actually help his case on being good