Colman Domingo will see you in Oz.
The Oscar-nominated actor has been tapped to voice the Cowardly Lion in โWicked: For Good.โ The announcement was made Monday in a short clip shared by both the movieโs and Domingoโs Instagram accounts, which show the Emmy winner hiding behind an adorable lion plush before the reveal.
In an interview published last week in Deadline, โWicked: For Goodโ director Jon M. Chu played coy about the identity of who heโd cast for the part in the second installment of his musical adaptation.
โMan, wait until the red carpet when the actor who gave us the Cowardly Lionโs voice steps foot on it,โ he said to tease the then-secret casting. โItโll be wild.โ
He did, however, reveal that he approached the โcelebrated actorโ โ who we now know is Domingo โ by sliding into his DMs.
โI was like, โItโs not a ton of lines, but maybe you have a little time. I know youโre busy. Iโll come to you,โโ Chu said about their exchange on Instagram. โHe was like, โWhy the fโ not, letโs go!โ And then we went ahead and recorded the lines.โ
Famously one of Dorothyโs traveling companions in L. Frank Baumโs โThe Wonderful Wizard of Ozโ and its various adaptations, the Cowardly Lion is introduced in โWickedโ as a caged young cub that is brought to Shiz by a new professor after the school bars all animals from teaching classes. An enraged Elphaba helps the lion cub escape. โWicked: For Good,โ which is set years after the events of the first film, will see that cub all grown up.
โWicked: For Goodโ stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande once again as Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland, respectively, at a time when they are known as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Also returning from โWickedโ are Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Jeff Goldblum (The Wizard), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Ethan Slater (Boq) and Marissa Bode (Nessarose).
The movie will hit theaters Nov. 21.