Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo is to voice the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good.
The Sing Sing actor, 55, joins a star-studded cast that includes British theatre star Cynthia Erivo, as Elphaba, and US singer Ariana Grande as Glinda.
The first half of the film, which aired in November 2024, explored the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba before they became estranged.
On Monday, Domingo, and the official Instagram account for the Wicked movies, shared a video that showed a lion plushie moving off-screen to reveal Domingo's face.
A message popped on screen that said: "Colman Domingo is The Cowardly Lion."
— Wicked: For Good (@wickedmovie) October 20, 2025
The announcement comes after director Jon M Chu teased that a celebrated actor would be voicing the Cowardly Lion’s lines earlier in the month.
The character, taken from the books by L Frank Baum, is depicted as being physically strong but lacking in self-confidence and bravery.
Domingo received an Oscar nomination this year for his role in prison drama Sing Sing and has also starred in Lincoln (2012), Selma (2014), If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) and Rustin (2023).
The two-part film adaptation is based on the Broadway smash which scored Idina Menzel a Tony Award for best leading actress in a musical for her role as Elphaba in 2004.
Wicked’s next instalment will arrive in cinemas in Ireland from 21 November and will cover the years after Elphaba, now demonised as The Wicked Witch of the West, parted ways with her friend Glinda.
The films have been adapted from the musical, which was based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel – which was in turn inspired by the story first told in Baum’s 1900 children’s novel, later adapted into the 1939 film, The Wizard Of Oz, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale.
Other stars of Wicked: For Good include Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero, Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and US actor Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard.
Source: Press Association
