The Wicked poster design controversy just won't go away

Wicked poster.

It turns out there's nothing like a good poster design debate to help promote a new movie. There are still a few weeks to go until the Wicked movie finally reaches cinema screens, but the Wicked poster design controversy is keeping the film in the headlines.

Cynthia Erivo, who plays the Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the film, has now aimed to play down her reaction to fans' attempts to 'fix' the poster design, but the saga goes on.

(Image credit: Dewynters PLC/Universal Pictures)

For anyone who's somehow missed all the fuss, it's all to do with the main poster for the film and its deviation from the poster from the Wicked stage show. Like the original poster, the design for the movie shows the two main characters: Elphaba and Glinda. But unlike the stage show's poster, their faces are clearly visible.

That inevitably led some fans to take matters into their own hands and to 'fix' the poster design by covering up the stars' faces. Actress Cynthia Erivo was not impressed. She hit out on Instagram describing the amateur poster designs as "the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen equal to that awful AI." She went on to say: "None of this is funny, none of this is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us" and that "To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me, and that is just deeply hurtful."

Cynthia's comments haven't stopped more edited versions of the poster from being shared on social media. She's now explained her reaction after being asked about the matter on the red carpet at the CFDA Fashion Awards. She told Entertainment Tonight by saying she felt protective of the character she plays.

“I’m passionate about it and I know the fans are passionate about it and I think for me it was just like a human moment of wanting to protect little Elphaba. ” She added: “I probably should have called my friends, but it’s fine.”

Wicked will be released on 22 November in the US and UK and on 21 or 22 November in various other countries.

For more design controversies, see the new disastrous new Slipknot logo. In other news this week, Apple launched new M4 MacBook Pros.