The Wicked musical and the book before it gave ample material for shippers of its two stars, Elphaba and Glinda, to gush over for years and years. While many fans see the story as one of friendship, there’s a train car full of subtext legions of other fans just can’t let go of — and the Wicked movie adaption gives them a literal train car to obsess over.
As Glinda says, let us rejoicify that goodness could prevail! Ahead of its digital release where fans can rent or buy the movie to enjoy over and over again in the comfort of their own homes, it has been announced that the home version will include deleted scenes that didn’t quite make the movie’s final cut.
Although the movie was already packed full of content for fans to devour and enjoy, as soon as viewers became aware of the deleted content they were clamoring for it to make a return. For our “thrillification,” Universal has included 10 deleted scenes in the digital release that expand on key character interactions and give a whole lot more context to the relationships between the characters.
One of the deleted scenes has caused a stir among Glinda/Elphaba shippers, and it’s easy to see why. Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda have fantastic chemistry on screen, and many fans walked away from Wicked‘s part one convinced they were more than friends. Those fans will feel vindicated with the release of the deleted scenes, which show Glinda and Elphaba all over each other on the train from Shiz to the Emerald City.
Clips from the deleted scenes are circulating around the Internet, and users on social media platform X were abuzz with excitement — and perhaps none more so than the Glinda/Elphaba shippers. One user took to X to point out how, despite the massive train car solely for their use, Elphaba and Glinda spent the entire time lounging over one another.
As X user @julesvavghn says, it’s a “big ass train but they’re all over each other.” What is this feeling? Certainly not loathing. While there are, of course, many explanations for the closeness, let’s just allow the Gelphie shippers to have this one short day. No need to drop a house on their good time!
Fans all over the Internet have been posting about the deleted scenes, with many hoping for a look at a rumored shirtless scene featuring Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater. That scene is unconfirmed, so the millions of fans hoping for a glimpse of the bare-chested Bridgerton wonder may be left disappointed, but there will be several scenes featuring Glinda and Elphaba — so the Gelphie shippers will be eating well.
Very well, then. The book, musical, and movie adaption all have more than enough subtext for audiences to sink their teeth into, so it’s no surprise that the Gelphie ship is getting some time in the sun after the movie release. Shippers aren’t the only ones to notice either as the Kuwaiti film board almost banned the movie due to its characters potentially being gay.
As Wicked got shortlisted for 4 Oscars, the home digital release will no doubt see the movie become even more popular with audiences, and with the deleted scenes content it could even spawn a whole new generation of Glinda/Elphaba shippers!
Published: Dec 28, 2024 01:52 pm