Warning: This text accommodates spoilers for 2025’s Depraved: For Good, now in theaters.Depraved: For Good‘s Marissa Bode speaks about her character’s arc of changing into the “Depraved Witch of the East,” explaining what Nessarose Thropp goes by that leads her to the choices seen within the sequel. Led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Depraved: For Good is the second half of the Broadway film adaptation, revealing the backstory of the witches of Oz.
Which, although it’s primarily Elphaba and Glinda’s story, does embrace Nessa, who’s the depraved witch that’s famously crushed by Dorothy’s home in The Wizard of Oz. Since Elphaba fled the Emerald Metropolis in 2024’s Depraved‘s ending, Nessa has stepped into her father’s place because the governor of Munchkinland after his sudden loss of life.
With no household, she clings to her relationship with Munchkinlander Boq (Ethan Slater), who’s making an attempt to politely break free from her. However when Elphaba returns to ask for assist and enchants Nessa’s footwear to permit her to fly and recapture the sensation of her college days, Nessa angrily makes an attempt to make use of the Grimmerie to make Boq fall in love along with her.
Elphaba is pressured to show Boq into the Tin Man to avoid wasting his life, and Nessa blames her sister within the face of Boq’s anger. In an interview with them.us, Bode stated: “She [Nessa] generally tries to return throughout because the governor who is aware of what she’s doing, and she or he takes management of others as a result of she does not really feel accountable for herself.“
This contains utilizing her energy to stop any Munchkin from leaving her area with out permission, which she declares simply as Boq is about to depart. Bode elaborates that Nessa was appearing out of loneliness, but additionally a naïveté concerning the impact she is having on folks’s lives:
She’s very lonely, and she or he simply needs to hold on to the goodness that is in her life. And for her, it is Boq and holding on to the happiest night time of her life, which was the Ozdust Ball. She feels the space from Boq, for positive. She’s making an attempt so desperately to not let that go and does not at all times make the very best choices. However I feel greater than something, she’s simply scared. […] However I do not suppose she has an concept of what she’s doing in full. There’s nonetheless that hopeful woman in her, but additionally the scared woman in her that we noticed somewhat within the first movie.
The interviewer says that “Nessa is a nuanced character,” although “Within the stage model, she’s form of forged off and fast to develop into villainized, or simply not given as a lot sympathy.” Bode agrees, saying that “Within the movie, her needs are completely different than within the stage model, and that does make her rather less one-dimensional.“
Depraved: For Good made the change to Nessa’s storyline that Elphaba makes use of the Grimmerie to make Nessa fly relatively than stroll (Bode can also be the primary genuine wheelchair person to play her), in response to widespread opinion that the depiction of Nessa on stage depends on ableist stereotypes. This transformation was offered to Bode after she was forged, and she or he shares that she was pleased with it.
The interview additionally revisits how Bode defended the character after the discharge of the primary film, when “It felt like folks weren’t permitting nuance for Nessa“ as a disabled character who makes errors. “[…] it does not essentially enable for a disabled particular person to be advanced,” says Bode, “however within the first movie, the worst factor I feel she did was not converse up for her sister.“
Nessa and Elphaba’s sophisticated relationship comes again round in Depraved: For Good as effectively. “She struggles with […] being left to tackle the position of governor of Munchkinland, whereas she had different aspirations,” says Bode, “and feeling pressured to try this along with her sister, Elphaba, not by her aspect.” The Depraved breakout star continues to say:
I really feel like Nessa comes throughout as if she doesn’t care, however I feel that is only a entrance. We see her sister arrive at one level, and it is a combination of feelings for Nessa. It is unhappiness, partly aid, additionally possibly somewhat little bit of resentment and frustration that Elphaba’s coming to ask for assist. That is not what I feel Nessa wants in that second; Nessa simply wants her sister to be her sister, relatively than being requested to do one thing.
Regardless of Depraved: For Good getting a decrease Rotten Tomatoes rating than its predecessor resulting from blended opinions, reward for the performances is nearly unanimous. Thus, some modifications to Nessa’s storyline and a gifted rising star who understands her on this approach allowed the Depraved Witch of the East to shine in Depraved: For Good.
- Launch Date
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November 21, 2025
- Runtime
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137 Minutes
- Director
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Jon M. Chu
- Writers
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Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, Gregory Maguire
- Producers
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Marc Platt, David Stone