The highly anticipated sequel Wicked: For Good soars into theaters on November 21, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande leading the big-screen adaptation of the smash Broadway musical.
However, the inspiration for the original Wicked novel, published by Gregory Maguire in 1995, hardly lends itself to song and dance. Shockingly, it was a brutal child murder that helped convince the author to commit to his reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
While lyricist Stephen Schwartz adapted the story into the bombastic Wicked musical many know today, Maguire’s original Wicked novel is rooted in somber themes—examining the effects of political propaganda and the genesis of evil.
One of the real-life events that made Maguire ponder such topics was the tragic 1993 killing of 2-year-old James Bulger, which remains one of the most infamous modern British criminal cases.
What Happened to James Bulger—and Who Were His Killers?
On February 12, 1993, Bulger disappeared while shopping with his mother, Denise Fergus, at The New Strand Shopping Center in Bootle, England.
According to the BBC, two 10-year-old boys—identified as Jon Venables and Robert Thompson following their trial—skipped school that day and lured the toddler roughly 2.5 miles to a railway track. During their walk, they kicked and punched Bulger and falsely claimed to concerned onlookers they were watching their younger brother or taking a lost child to the police station. Once at the tracks, Venables and Thompson continued to beat Bulger, causing 42 different injuries.
Two days later, four boys searching for soccer balls discovered Bulger’s remains, according to truTV. His body had been struck by a passing train, though it was determined the child died prior to the impact.
After a three-week trial later that November, Venables and Thompson were found guilty of Bulger’s death and sentenced to detention “at Her Majesty’s pleasure,” a mandatory indefinite time period for serious criminal offenders under age 18.
In June 2001, Venables and Thompson were released on “life licence” and given new identities to protect their anonymity as part of a court order.
How the James Bulger Murder Inspired Wicked’s Author Gregory Maguire
The gruesome details of the Bulger case horrified the public, including Maguire, who had moved to London sometime during the early 1990s.
Maguire had written several children’s books with “good reviews, but no big sales.” He wanted to attempt an adult novel exploring the nature of evil, and commentary about Bulger’s murder shaped his creative process.
“Everyone was asking: How could those boys be so villainous?” Maguire explained to The Guardian. “Were they born evil or were there circumstances that pushed them towards behaving like that? It propelled me back to the question of evil that bedevils anybody raised Catholic.”
Maguire tied lingering questions about the murder—including if “sociological, biochemical, or spiritual reasons” were partly responsible—to the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, the character from Baum’s 1900 novel and the famous 1939 movie adaptation The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland.
“That sad, sad event proved to be a catalyst for me to push forward,” Maguire told the BBC, adding the murder fed into “everything he had been considering” for his alternative take on the Oz tale.
How Gregory Maguire Reimagined the Wicked Witch as Elphaba
Maguire told the Denver Center for the Performing Arts that he considered the Wicked Witch of the West the “second-most evil character in our collective American subconscious” behind Adolf Hitler. The lack of explanation for her dark behavior allowed him more creative freedom to craft Wicked.
“Everybody in America knows who the Wicked Witch of the West is, but nobody really knows anything about her. There is more to her than meets the eye,” Maguire explained.
He re-named the character Elphaba Thropp—with the syllables of her first name mimicking a fast pronunciation of Baum’s initials, L.F.B.
Maguire’s Wicked novel spawned three direct sequels and a 2025 prequel novel, Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, allowing Maguire further space to explore the genesis of evil. Ultimately, neither the tragic James Bulger case nor any other real-life event has brought him closer to a definitive conclusion.
“I still don’t know what evil is,” Maguire told Yahoo! Entertainment. “What I do know is that a human person who performs a wicked act suffers from an immense amount of self-loathing. Evil behavior, I think, is only possible when we cannot extend empathy to other people—or even ourselves.”
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
