Actor Colman Domingo is officially the voice behind the Cowardly Lion in Jon M Chu’s Wicked: For Good. He joins returning cast members Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ariana Grande, and Jeff Goldblum, among others, in the sequel to last year's Wicked: Part One. The makers announced Domingo’s casting news on the franchise's official Instagram earlier this Monday. The post features Domingo initially concealing himself behind a stuffed animal before dramatically showing his face and declaring, "See you in Oz!"
The Cowardly Lion appears as a central figure in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. In Wicked: Part One, the character begins as a young cub, whom Erivo's Elphaba and Bailey’s Fiyero rescue for setting it free.
Wicked: For Good will show it as the fully matured Cowardly Lion, blaming Elphaba for his circumstances. The sequel's timeline overlaps with The Wizard of Oz, so viewers will see the lion with Dorothy, The Tin Man, and Scarecrow as they traverse the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard (Goldblum).
The film will track Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship, as it faces a test while they navigate their new identities as Glinda the Good Witch of the North and Wicked Witch of the West, respectively. It will explore how their actions affect Oz in its entirety.
Wicked: For Good is slated for a November 21 release in theatres.