Colman Domingo to Voice Cowardly Lion in ‘Wicked: For Good’

Ease on down! Oscar nominated performer Colman Domnigo is set to take on voicing duties for he iconic Cowardly Lion character in Wicked: For Good.

It looks like Colman Domingo will be hitting the yellow brick road to Oz. It was recently announced that the Emmy award-winning actor would be voicing the iconic Cowardly Lion character in Wicked: For Good.

Domingo’s casting was officially announced earlier this week via a joint video post from his Instagram account and the official Wicked Instagram account.

In the video, a plush lion appears before being pulled out of the shot, revealing Domingo, who looks into the camera, saying, “See you in OZ.”

The announcement came as a bit of surprise to fans as just last week, Wicked: For Good director John M. Chu gave a very vague admission on the official casting of the role, saying, “Man, wait until the red carpet when the actor who gave us the Cowardly Lion’s voice steps foot on it. It’ll be wild.”

Now the tea has officially been spilled. In addition to alluding to the casting of the Cowardly Lion actor, Chu also admitted the unconventional way he went about casting Dominigo, sending him a direct message via 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.’ He was like, ‘Why the fuck not, let’s go!’ And then we went ahead and recorded the lines.”

This isn’t the first time the Oscar-nominated Domingo has taken on voice-over duties for a film; his credits include Unicron in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Arthur Gilman in Ruby Gilman, Teenage Kraken, and Wolfe in “The Electric State.”

Originally hailing from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” characterizes the Cowardly Lion as timid and fearful.

Domingo’s take on the character will presumably fall in line with Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, its 2003 Broadway musical adaptation, where the Cowardly Lion plays a smaller but pivotal role.

After hitting theaters last November, Wicked has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. After grossing over $750 million at the office, the film became the highest-grossing live-action film with an LGBTQ+ lead actor (domestically) due to star Cynthia Erivo’s lead role as Elphaba.

The film was a critical success, receiving 10 total nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Lead Actress for Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, and Best Supporting Actress for Ariana Grande as Glinda. Other nominations include: costume design, editing, makeup and hairstyling, production design, original score, sound, and visual effects.

Openly LGBTQ+ costume designer Paul Tazewell won for Best Costume Design, making him the first Black man to win in the category.

Wicked: For Good will serve as the second part of the film’s franchise while remaining true to the original Broadway production’s second act.
The film is set directly after the events of Wicked (2024) — this time following Elphaba and Glinda, as the pair’s budding sisterhood turned into a divide that threatens the entire future of the land of Oz. Wicked: For Good is set to be released in theaters November 21.

Watch the latest trailer for Wicked: For Good below: