Colman Domingo Confirmed as the Voice of the Cowardly Lion in WICKED: FOR GOOD

Good news! Tony nominated actor Colman Domingo is officially the voice of the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good. The news was confirmed by the Wicked account in a new video of the actor surrounded by stuffed animals of the character. A younger version of the Cowardly Lion was seen in the first Wicked film as the cub rescued by Elphaba and Fiyero and, in Wicked: For Good, will appear alongside the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and Dorothy Gale. 

In a recent interview with Deadline, director Jon M. Chu shared that he reached out to an actor (Domingo) on Instagram with a request to record the lines. “I was like, ‘It’s not a ton of lines, but maybe you have a little time. I know you’re busy. I’ll come to you.’ He was like, ‘Why the f*ck not, let’s go!’ And then we went ahead and recorded the lines.” The identity of the actor was kept under wraps until now.

Domingo has been nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, Tony-nominated, Critics Choice Awards, Independent Spirit, Gotham Awards, Laurence Olivier, Drama Desk, Drama League and NAACP Image, and Black Reel Award. He was recently seen as “Mister” in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Color Purple, along with the theater drama Sing Sing. He will also star as Michael Jackson's father, Joe, in the upcoming biopic Michael.

Domingo is known to Broadway audiences for acclaimed turns in The Scottsboro Boys, Passing Strange, Chicago, and as book writer of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. He has also co-produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated play Fat Ham.

Get tickets to see Wicked: For Good in theaters here.

Wicked: For Good, the conclusion of the film adaptation, picks up after the 2024 blockbuster. Elphaba, now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard. 

Wicked: For Good will hit theaters on November 21, 2025, and stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose.