“Wicked: For Good” earned a whopping zero Oscar nods, and the presumed snub brings blessed relief for at least one clear message it sends: Let’s go ahead and pack this one up. 

Where the first entry earned 10 Academy Award nominations and two wins – for best costume design and best production design – its sequel earned none. Instead, those nominations went to more succinct, engaging narratives: “Sinners” earned a record-breaking 16 nominations, and unfortunately, “For Good” couldn’t go toe-to-toe with this year’s other heavy hitters: “One Battle After Another,” “Bugonia” and “Frankenstein,” even “KPop Demon Hunters.” 

I’ll say this outright: I enjoyed “For Good.” But in the wake of the Oscars nominations, I can understand why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn’t: “Wicked” got its flowers at the 2025 awards. (By the time “For Good” came out, we were a full year away from the first part’s release.)

The announcement of these nominations elicited a very specific memory I had at Chili’s, just after an early evening showing of “For Good.” 

I was halfway through a Chili’s Elphaba-hued “Witches Brew Margarita” – all of us at the table alternated between this green concoction and its pink Glinda counterpart – when I thought to ask the waitress the whereabouts of our advertised,........

© USA TODAY