Huge, large spoilers for Act 2 of the Broadway musical “Depraved” — which is being tailored into “Depraved: For Good” — lie forward! Cease studying if you wish to keep away from spoilers!
Within the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale is flanked by three companions as she travels down the yellow brick highway to satisfy the Wizard of Oz (4, should you depend her loyal pup Toto, who traveled along with her from Kansas to Oz). These associates and protectors are often called the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), and the Tin Man (Jack Haley), and whereas Dorothy desires to ask the Wizard to ship her residence, the Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man have agendas of their very own. The Lion desires to ask him for braveness, the Scarecrow would actually love a mind, and as for the Tin Man, he merely desires a working coronary heart.
You are most likely conversant in these characters as a result of, properly, “The Wizard of Oz” is without doubt one of the most well-known films of all time … however how does the Tin Man issue into “Depraved,” Jon M. Chu’s epic two-part adaptation of the Broadway musical of the identical title? (Whereas “The Wizard of Oz” clearly components into the story of “Depraved,” I ought to make clear that the musical actually leans on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Depraved: The Life and Instances of the Depraved Witch of the West,” which is darker than the musical however nonetheless serves as its supply materials.) A personality we have already met in “Depraved: Half One” will really grow to be the Tin Man, and it is a tragic story — so, here is what to look at for when the second “Depraved” movie, “Depraved: For Good,” comes out later this yr.
What does Boq do in Depraved: Half One?
After we meet Boq in “Depraved: Half One,” we instantly notice he hails from Munchkinland — largely as a result of he has to face on a pile of books at Shiz College to satisfy his romantic rival Prince Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey) within the eye — and he is performed by Ethan Slater, an actor identified for his roles in Broadway reveals like “The SpongeBob Musical” and “Spamalot.” (As of late, Slater is additionally identified for his ongoing real-life relationship with Ariana Grande-Butera, who performs Galinda Upland in “Depraved” and acquired an Academy Award nomination for her supporting position.) Boq is nice, seemingly shy, and carrying a reasonably apparent torch for Galinda, who brushes him off to the purpose the place she retains forgetting his title (she calls him “Bick,” like, a complete bunch of instances). When Galinda figures this out, she shrewdly tells Boq he ought to ask out Nessarose Thropp (Marissa Bode), the youthful sister of unpopular Shiz scholar Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo, who additionally scored an Oscar nod within the lead class), leaving Galinda free to proceed romancing Fiyero.
Boq appears to grasp, on some degree, that Galinda is offering Nessarose as a distraction, however it does not imply he is merciless to Nessarose; actually, he is her date when a complete bunch of Shiz college students sneak out to go dance on the Stardust Ballroom, and he very earnestly ensures that she has an excellent time. Sadly, Boq’s connection to Nessarose is finally his downfall — and it helps clarify how he turns into the Tin Man.
Boq’s twisted love story might be an enormous plot level in Depraved: For Good
Nessarose really loves Boq, however the best way she reveals it within the second act of the “Depraved” musical is, frankly, not nice. On the finish of the musical’s first act (which we have already seen on-screen in “Depraved: Half One”), Elphaba escapes the Emerald Metropolis underneath duress simply after she discovers that Shiz College’s Dean of Sorcery Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) are each in cahoots and evil frauds. Whereas Elphaba escapes, she sings the showstopping Act 1 nearer “Defying Gravity,” reluctantly leaving her greatest good friend — who’s now styling her title as simply “Glinda” — behind as she seeks to depart Ozand keep away from persecution, and because the movie closes, we see Madam Morrible stage a full PR marketing campaign declaring that Elphaba is an enemy of all that is good in Oz. As Nessarose and her and Elphaba’s father Governor Thropp (Andy Nyman) take heed to her announcement, Governor Thropp collapses, and in Act 2 of the musical, we study that he died (presumably of shock).
When Nessarose takes management of Munchkinland as governor (in her father’s stead), she turns into a tyrannical chief — which is especially dangerous information for Boq, who finally ends up trapped within the land and dealing with a civil rights disaster all as a result of Nessarose desires to hold onto the person she loves so badly. When Elphaba reveals as much as attempt to motive along with her sister, issues go from dangerous to worse, particularly the place Boq is worried.
A spell gone flawed finally turns Boq into the Tin Man
When she discovers that her sister has grow to be a merciless ruler of Munchkinland (and that her love for Boq has grow to be poisonous), Elphaba tries to do one thing form for her sister, however it utterly backfires. We see, in “Depraved: Half One,” that Elphaba and Nessarose’s mom Melena (Courtney Mae-Briggs) left behind a pair of silver footwear, and Elphaba enchants them — turning them ruby pink within the course of — to assist Nessarose stroll with out the help of her wheelchair. It is extraordinarily essential to notice right here that, on stage, Nessarose is usually performed by an able-bodied actor, however Marissa Bode is the primary wheelchair consumer to ever play the position. In September of 2024, Bode indicated to Selection that this specific second might be totally different within the second “Depraved” movie, stating, “Casting authentically and exhibiting an genuine disabled particular person is essential, however it’s additionally essential how we’re proven. I’m very pleased with the adjustments which have been made, for certain.”
No one moreover Bode and Jon M. Chu is aware of fairly how this may change in “Depraved: For Good,” however the level within the musical is that Boq, seeing Nessarose stroll, abruptly decides that she not “wants” him and tries to depart to be with Glinda. In a rage, Nessarose casts a spell that is supposed to maintain Boq along with her by specializing in his coronary heart, however all she finally ends up doing is shrinking his coronary heart as a result of it belongs to Glinda. So as to save his life, Elphaba casts a spell of her personal, turning Boq into the Tin Man (in order that he not requires a coronary heart to remain alive).
The one main clue about Boq’s destiny in Depraved: Half One is his final title
Boq seems in each L. Frank Baum’s authentic 1900 e-book “The Great Wizard of Oz” and in Gregory Maguire’s novel “Depraved,” however when Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman tailored the latter for the stage, they determined to make one massive change: Boq grew to become a “composite character,” which means that they mixed Boq’s story with that of the Tin Man to provide his narrative extra dramatic weight. (Boq is definitely a really rich citizen of Munchkinland in “The Great Wizard of Oz” and even permits Dorothy and Toto to remain at his monumental residence throughout her journey.) Plus, within the books, the Tin Woodman is a personality who’s named Nick Chopper, however this all adjustments within the “Depraved” musical, making Boq a much more tragic character. (At the least he is not alone — Fiyero will get become his yellow brick highway buddy, the Scarecrow.)
In “Depraved: Half One,” we are given a large clue relating to Boq’s future — his final title is “Woodsman,” which is a reasonably clear reference to the L. Frank Baum character known as the “Tin Woodman.” After turning into the Tin Man, Boq, within the musical, is imbued with rage and determined for revenge towards Elphaba, blissfully unaware that the spell that reworked him really saved his life; within the musical quantity “March of the Witch Hunters,” Boq because the Tin Man rallies residents of Ozto seek out the so-called “Depraved Witch of the West” and destroy her for good. If “Depraved: For Good” follows the musical as faithfully as “Depraved: Half One” did, we’ll see Boq’s heel flip when it comes out on November 21, 2025; as for the primary movie, it is obtainable to hire or purchase on digital platforms now.
