The news is out and the internet is thrilled: Colman Domingo will voice the Cowardly Lion in “Wicked: For Good.”
“Wicked” director Jon M. Chu had teased the news in a Thursday interview with Deadline, saying that it will be “wild” when the actor who is voicing the part — a major Hollywood star, per Chu — steps on the red carpet.
But the news was instead revealed Monday, when the “Wicked” movie Instagram account posted a video of Domingo playing with and surrounded by a number of stuffed toy lions.
“See you in Oz,” Domingo says in the video with a wink.
Users on social media spent the weekend speculating who might be playing the part, with rumors centering on former late-night host and musical theater actor James Corden.
When the news was announced Monday, those same users celebrated the casting — and the fact that the role didn’t go to Corden.
“James Corden isn’t the lion in wicked! We won,” one X user posted.
In order to book Domingo in the part originally made famous by Bert Lahr in the 1939 film adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” Chu told Deadline that he sent the “Sing Sing” actor a direct message on Instagram.
“I was like, ‘It’s not a ton of lines, but maybe you have a little time. I know you’re busy. I’ll come to you,'” Chu recalled saying in the message, according to Deadline.
Chu said Domingo responded “‘Why the f— not, let’s go!’ And then we went ahead and recorded the lines.”
Domingo joins an already star-studded cast, including Ariana Grande as Glinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero.
“Wicked: For Good,” the second in a two-part series, releases in theaters on Nov. 21. It will continue the story told in last year’s “Wicked.” The film is produced and will be distributed by Universal Pictures, which is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
