Wicked’s deleted scenes are spilling tea hotter than a freshly brewed Elphaba potion. And yes, it’s all about Jonathan Bailey going shirtless—a cinematic tragedy, truly, that we never got to witness it. But thanks to Deadline and their sneaky release of the Wicked screenplay, we now know why Fiyero decided to ditch his top. Spoiler: it’s not because it was too hot in Oz, but it was hot. If you catch my drift.
The Lost Art of Shirtlessness
According to Bowen Yang (your honorary Wicked historian), somewhere between Galinda singing “Popular” and Doctor Dillamond being fired—RIP, goat dude—there was an epic montage. Picture it: Fiyero, Galinda, Elphaba, Nessa, and Boq all hanging out, doing bestie things. Bowen even spilled on the Just Trish podcast that Jonathan Bailey was set to flaunt his abs in this wholesome “we’re all friends now” montage.
But wait, plot twist: Ethan Slater (Boq, aka the guy pining over Nessa) also went shirtless! Apparently, this turned into a flex-off. You’d expect Fiyero to take the crown, but surprise—Boq came in hot with some undercover gym gains, leaving everyone shooketh. Truly, a tale as old as time: one-upmanship with pecs.
So, What Really Happened?
The script, now unearthed like some ancient Oz artifact, gives us the juicy deets. In the deleted scene, the fab five stumble upon a giant, rotting tree in the middle of the woods. Why? No one knows, but Boq whips out an axe like he’s auditioning for Ozland’s Got Lumberjacks.
Cut to the gang working hard—or barely working, in Fiyero’s case. He, naturally, removes his shirt because chopping wood in a button-up would be gauche. Boq follows suit, hoping for a similar “wow” reaction, though his moment is met with more of a “…huh.” Meanwhile, the gals—Nessa, Elphaba, and a totally-not-drooling Galinda—are left to do the actual labor, hacking away at the tree like it owes them emeralds.
Why Was This Cut?
While we can only speculate, my money’s on the studio worrying audiences would get too distracted by the sheer shirtlessness of it all. How could one focus on Ozian politics when abs like that are on screen? Justice for the montage, though—at least Bowen’s tea has gifted us this mental image.
We may have been robbed of a shirtless Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater moment, but at least we’ll always have the script… and our imaginations. Wicked, indeed.
