The Hero’s Journey Breakdown: ‘Wicked’

Welcome to a continuation of The Hero’s Journey Breakdown where I explore Joseph Campbell’s mythological storytelling structure and how iconic films fit into that mold.

The late Hollywood creative executive Christopher Vogler’s approach to Campbell’s structure broke the mythical story structure into 12 stages that were more applicable to the cinematic storytelling structure. For this series, we define the stages in simplified interpretations.

The Hero’s Journey Breakdown: Wicked

1. The Ordinary World: We see the hero’s normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.
2. Call to Adventure: The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their adventure.
3. Refusal of the Call: The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fear, insecurity, or any other number of issues.
4. Meeting the Mentor: The hero encounters a mentor who can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead.
5. Crossing the Threshold: The hero leaves their ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.
6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies: The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and comes face-to-face with enemies.
7. The Approach: The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that cause the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
8. The Ordeal: Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. The hero experiences more difficult hurdles and obstacles, some of which may lead to a life crisis.
9. The Reward: After surviving The Ordeal, the hero seizes the sword—a reward that they’ve earned that allows them to take on the biggest conflict. It may be a physical item or piece of knowledge or wisdom that will help them persevere.
10. The Road Back: The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.
11. The Resurrection: The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.
12. The Return: The hero brings their knowledge or the “elixir” back to the ordinary world.

Here we turn to the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked.

The Hero’s Journey Breakdown: Wicked

Note: As with any application of story structure or formula, this is just a hindsight interpretation and implementation of The Hero’s Journey to this cinematic tale. There can and will be variances.

Scripts from this Article

Wicked

The Ordinary World

Elphaba’s (Cynthia Erivo) ordinary world is a life where she is ostracized for her green skin. When she arrives at Shiz University to escort her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), she is an outcast.

This ordinary world establishes her struggles with acceptance and love. Her natural inclination toward rebellion and a desire to fit in sets the emotional groundwork for her journey to come.

Call to Adventure

Elphaba’s call to adventure comes when her magical abilities manifest at Shiz University. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), recognizing Elphaba’s raw power, asks her to stay at the university and promises to arrange a meeting with the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum)—something Elphaba has secretly hoped for her whole life.

Refusal of the Call

Despite her excitement, Elphaba is burdened by doubt. Her insecurity looms large, compounded by years of rejection and her father’s disdain. She doesn’t have an outright refusal of the call beyond the initial doubt before accepting the invitation to stay.

Meeting the Mentor

Madame Morrible is the initial mentor, albeit with questionable motives. She nurtures Elphaba’s magical talent and offers guidance that nudges her toward the fateful meeting with the Wizard. But her mentorship feels almost transactional, which plants seeds of doubt.

Her true mentor is Galinda (Ariana Grande). While their friendship begins as a clash of opposites, Galinda teaches Elphaba about the social intricacies of their world and forces her to reflect on her own values and desires.

Read More: Top 10 Best Movie Mentors

Crossing the Threshold

One evening, Elphaba follows Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage)—a talking goat and one of the last remaining animal professors at Shiz—to his off-campus home. She learns that other animals are being stripped of their civil rights and losing their ability to speak.

In response, Elphaba reassures him that the Wizard will surely make things right.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Elphaba finds an ally in Galinda, though their friendship is tested by their differing values.

But Galinda starts as somewhat of an enemy but evolves into an ally.

Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), the dashing prince, also becomes a significant ally, offering both companionship and romantic tension. There are other allies as well, including her very own sister Nessarose.

Early enemies include Elphaba’s father, as well as the whole student body—until they accept her with the help of Galinda.

The Wizard and Madame Morrible later reveal themselves as antagonists, representing the corruption and deceit of Oz’s ruling powers.

The tests are first showcased with Elphaba’s struggle for acceptance within the school. She later takes on the mantle of standing up for the animals as well, eventually releasing a lion cub that was going to be experimented on.

The Approach

Elphaba gets an invitation to meet the Wizard. She and Glinda travel to the Emerald City with high hopes, believing that the Wizard will help the animals.

The Ordeal

The Wizard’s true nature is revealed when he tasks her with enchanting the winged monkeys. Elphaba realizes that her idealized savior, as well as Morrible, are manipulative figures seeking to exploit her talents for their own agenda.

Elphaba learns that the Wizard is a fraud and he and Morrible are behind the animals losing their rights and speech. This betrayal shatters her illusions and forces her to embrace a new path.

The Reward

Elphaba devises a plan. She steals the Grimmerie, a powerful spellbook, to hone her magic and challenge the regime.

The Road Back

Her road back takes her reward to do some good for the animals and the people of Oz. Her attempts to do good are misconstrued as evil, isolating her further. The label of “wicked” is attached to her. Her actions unintentionally hurt those she’s trying to protect, including the whole Emerald City. She’s seen as a Wicked Witch.

Read More: The Most Epic Journeys in Film and TV

The Resurrection

Elphaba faces a final, transformative challenge. She fully embraces her role as the Wicked Witch, not as a villain in her eyes, but as a defiant force for justice. She is reborn as a self-assured, powerful person.

Her climactic “Defying Gravity” moment symbolizes her transcendence and resurrection. She literally rises above her adversaries, proclaiming her freedom from their constraints and setting the stage for the ultimate battle in Wicked: Part 2.

The Return

The return is yet to be seen. If we look at the film—which is marked in Wicked: Part 1, mind you—her Resurrection can be seen as her return as she flies above all of Oz for all to see, using her newfound “reward” to oppose the Wizard and Morrible.

Read More: The Hero’s Journey Breakdown: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner, the feature thriller Hunter’s Creed, and many Lifetime thrillers. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies and Instagram @KenMovies76.