Why did Hollywood stop loving villains?

In today’s Oscar nominations, the biggest shock was that the blockbuster musical sequel Wicked: For Good, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, received no nominations — even though its predecessor got 10. It demonstrated the dangers of over-expanding your material.

The Oscar nominations received their usual share of snubs and surprises, with a nod for Best Supporting Actor for Paul Mescal, who co-starred in Hamnet, and two different nods for the Norwegian Sentimental Value Award in the Best Supporting Actress category. But the biggest surprise of all is what you might call the multiple snubs, or even the overall snub: There were no nominations at all for Wicked: For Good.

This was a shock for two reasons. The first is that Wicked: For Good is the second part of an adaptation of the Broadway show, and the first part, which was released a year earlier, received 10 Oscar nominations. The Academy was apparently impressed by this colorful introduction to The Wizard of Oz. I adored the two famous Wizards of Oz, Elphaba and Glinda, and especially the actresses who played them, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. How could things go so disastrously wrong that the total Oscar nominations drop from 10 to zero?

Another reason this snub was unexpected is that at the start of awards season, Wicked: For Good appeared to be the main contender. At the Golden Globe Awards in January, Erivo was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. Grande was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film as a whole was on the short list of cinematic and box office achievements. It received not one, but two nominations for Best Original Song.

Universal Pictures

Most commentators assumed that the Oscars would follow suit and honor Wicked: For Good in the Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song categories, at least. The film was longlisted for seven technical awards, so nominations for hair, makeup, costume design and production design seemed likely. And with 10 slots available on the Best Picture list, there will likely be a nomination as well. It’s amazing how quickly and completely the magic disappeared.

One factor behind this is obvious. Bad guys: Because good wasn’t good enough. The first film received an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregation site, while the second film’s score dropped to 66%. Some critics did the equivalent of dropping a house on the film, crushing it completely. Robbie Cullen gave it a one-star review in The Telegraph, under a headline that read: “Ariana Grande is painfully wooden in disturbing Wicked sequel”, while Justin Chang’s review in The New Yorker was titled “Wicked: For Good is Very, Very Bad”.