Who is the Tin Man in Wicked? Here's all about it

Almost everybody who is waiting for the Wicked: For Good movie to release on November 21 is already a fan of the musical and knows everything there is to know about the story and the characters. However, for the audience who is new to this story and is experiencing Elphaba and Glinda's tale for the very first time, some of the characters might be familiar from The Wizard of Oz.

The Tin Man is a character seen in The Wizard of Oz as well as Wicked. Wicked, in a way, gives us the backstory for many of the characters that we see in The Wizard of Oz, and such is the case for the Tin Man. Here's what we know about his identity.

The Tin Man's identity in Wicked

Even though Wicked is linked to The Wizard of Oz and can be considered a prequel and an origin story, it is actually an adaptation of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, rather than Frank Baum, whose The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was adapted into what we now know as The Wizard of Oz.

In Wicked, the Tin Man is Boq Woodsman, a fellow student of Elphaba and Glinda at Shiz University. The story of how Boq becomes the Tin Man is extremely tragic. However, this story is a major spoiler for the upcoming Wicked movie in November. So, this is the final chance for you to stop reading.

Boq is a shy and sweet man from Munchkinland (we see him standing on a pile of books in the 2024 film so that he can stand eye-to-eye with Jonathan Bailey's Fiyera). Boq is in love with Glinda, who is painfully unaware of his existence and is romancing Fiyero, but ends up in a relationship with Elphaba's sister, Nessarose.

Nessarose is in love with Boq, but her way of showing love is somewhat problematic. She becomes a tyrannical leader of Munchkinland to ensure Boq's presence by her side, turning a once pure relationship into something toxic. Elphaba tries to help her sister and even uses her magical powers to help her walk again. However, this completely backfires on Elphaba because after watching Nessa walk again, Boq comes to the conclusion that she doesn't need him anymore, so he should confess his love to Glinda.

Reaching a pinnacle of desperation, Nessa casts a spell to make Boq love her more by focusing on his heart. However, she ends up shrinking his heart. To save Boq's life, Elphaba casts her own spell, which ends up turning Boq into who we now know as the Tin Man, who doesn't need a heart to stay alive.

If Wicked: For Good follows the musical's story as faithfully as Part One did, we will be witnessing this story through Ethan Slater's Boq Woodsman (a reference to Tin Woodman in the Frank Baum narrative). However, Marissa Bode, the actress who plays Nessa in the film, revealed in a conversation with Teen Vogue that the second movie has taken some liberties with the story to ensure representation is carried out healthily. So, only time will tell how strictly the film adheres to the story.

Trending

Keep reading Soap Central for more such deep dives!

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback