In the battle of the Glicked press tours, there’s a clear winner.

Wicked and Gladiator II were always destined to be linked.

Premiering at around the same time at the end of 2024, the two movies have merged into one beautiful term: Glicked.

Last year might have been dominated by Barbenheimer (the double bill of Barbie and Oppenheimer), but in 2024, you best be getting Glicked.

The Wizard of Oz's prequel, Wicked, follows the powerful witch Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and popular witch Glinda (Ariana Grande), charting their journey from college rivals to besties, explaining how they became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

Watch the trailer for Wicked. Post continues after video.

In the sequel to the 2000 original, Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as Lucius, the son of Maximus, who is enslaved to be a gladiator. Mescals stars alongside Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington

With both the Gladiator II and Wicked press tours finally wrapping up this week, which one do we think won Glicked?

When it comes to viral moments, let's compare and contrast, shall we!

Starting with Gladiator II, there's been loads of hilarious and heartwarming moments that have swept the interwebs, especially featuring lead actor and internet boyfriend, Paul Mescal.

Paul Mescal was interviewed by his biggest fan, @PaulMescalPics, as the two competed over who knew the most about Paul Mescal.

The actor didn't win. "I got my own life wrong there. I lost that uncomfortably," he joked.

@paulmescalpics

So i played this little game of “Who Knows Paul Best?” With Paul Mescal and i actually won 😅 🎥 @GladiatorMovie @ParamountUK #paulmescal #GLADIATORII #gladiator2

♬ som original - Paulmescalpics

Another iconic interview moment came when Mescal and Denzel Washington spoke to British Vogue. In the chat, Washington expressed a distaste for social media, oddly noting he doesn't have a LinkedIn.

"You don't have a LinkedIn?" Mescal hilariously posed.

"No, but I have a Cadillac," Washington whipped back. An icon.

@britishvogue

Don't expect to find #PaulMescal and #DenzelWashington on LinkedIn.

♬ original sound - British Vogue

In other chats, Mescal was rolling around with puppies for BuzzFeed and choking down spicy chicken on Hot Ones.

In one viral moment on the red carpet, Mescal bumped into his All of Us Strangers co-star, Andrew Scott, and bounded over to him for a big hug. Cuties!

@mtvuk

Crying at Andrew Scott coming to support Paul Mescal at the Gladiator II world premiere 😭 That hug 🥹❤️ #paulmescal #andrewscott #gladiator #gladiator2 #allofusstrangers #filmtok #mtvmovies

♬ original sound - Stan :)

In one video that was heavily memed, a moody montage of some of the movie's stars was released. I don't know what this is all about but consider me interested!

@josephquinnhq

New video with Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal y Paul Mescal promoting ‘GLADIATOR II#gladiatormovie #gladiator2 #gladiator #joequinn #josephquinn #pedropascal #paulmescal

♬ sonido original - Joseph Quinn HQ

The response to the film was huge in the first week of release, but I'd argue its since been usurped by the global phenomenon that has been the Wicked press tour.

Beginning with Ariana Grande's appearance on Saturday Night Live where the singer and actor joked in her monologue about how "it's every theater kid's dream to play either Glinda or Elphaba. Well, it's every theater kid's dream to lose their virginity, but their second dream is to be in Wicked."

Grande's co-star in Wicked and SNL staple, Bowen Yang, even popped up as Glinda.

The SNL episode was a huge success, becoming the highest-rated show since Elon Musk hosted in 2021.

Ariana Grande’s monologue! pic.twitter.com/vIvxzDqbTu

— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) October 13, 2024

Then once the promo tour was in full force with a tour of international premieres, the fashion of the two leading ladies took centre stage.

In the trend of 'dressing the part' like Margot Robbie and Zendaya, both Grande and Ervivo wore outfits inspired by their characters in Wicked, which meant a line of iconic gothic and green looks for Cynthia and pops of preppy-inspired pastel dresses for the pop star.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande attend the European Premiere of Wicked in London. Image: Getty.

But not to be outdone by the ladies, Jonathan Bailey has been repping Fiyero with his outfits featuring cheeky Easter eggs about his character.

But the main character is truly Bailey's magnificent legs, with the Bridgerton star showing off at a Sydney event that his shins were sculpted by gods.

Jonathan Bailey's legs, everybody. Image: Getty.

The interviews featuring Ariana and Cynthia have been going all sorts of viral. In one, an 11-year-old content creator Taylen Biggs quizzed the woman who ended up fan-gurling over the tween.

One unmistakable part of these interviews is just how emotional these women got over Wicked, the power of the story about friendship which has been beloved for decades by its legion of fans.

The two gals seemingly cried throughout the press tour.

@evie.magazine

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have apologized for getting emotional during the “Wicked” press tours, saying they can’t help it. It’s evident the movie meant a lot to them. #ariana #arianagrande #cynthiaerivo #wicked

♬ original sound - Evie Girl Shop

Their hilarious responses in interviews, often bouncing off each other's excitable energy, have inspired countless parodies on TikTok.

@yurilamasbella

we love emotional embracing queens 🧡 #wicked #arianagrande #cynthiaerivo #pov #relatable

♬ original sound - Yuri Lamasbella

And for those who are chronically online, there's been no escaping a meme that's taken over in the past week.

Out magazine posted a clip of journalist, Tracey E Gilchrist, speaking to Erivo and Grande. In the chat, she told the stars that "I've seen this week people are taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space in that, and feeling power in that."

Despite this sentence not making much sense to those outside of the Wicked fandom, Cynthia responded, "I didn't know that was happening… that's really powerful. That's what I wanted."

@soceleb

Defying Gravity is holding space! #foryou #fyp #arianagrande #cynthiaerivo #wicked #funny #popculture #celebrity #hollywood #foryoupage

♬ original sound - soceleb

And from here a beautiful meme was born, as people across the internet asked themselves: are they holding space for the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity'?

Considering just how much Wicked has infiltrated every level of culture, across TV, fashion, memes and social media, I'd have to say that it has won this battle.

It's not all that surprising given how much Wicked has dominated the box office.

The film raked in $112.5 million in the US and $162.5 million globally, making it the highest global and domestic opening for a Broadway adaption.

By comparison, Gladiator II opened with $55.5 million domestically and $87 million globally (which is still huge).

There's also been a noticeable difference in how the films have been received in reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregation of reviews had Wicked scoring an impressive 90 per cent while Gladiator II sat at 71 per cent.

The Gladiator sequel has mixed reviews. Some praised it as a feat in cinema (including me, I loved it) but other reviewers weren't convinced by the movie's uneven plot and overwritten dialogue.

In one of the more savage appraisals, Forbes headlined their review as: 'A Dreadful, Pointless Sequel That Never Should Have Seen The Light Of Day.' Ouch!

On the flip side, the majority of Wicked's reviews have been raves.

In a four-star review in The Guardian, film critic Wendy Ide wrote "driven by knockout performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Jon M Chu's impossibly slick charm assault of an adaptation zips along so enjoyably that you almost wish it were longer (your bladder may disagree)."

It's not a huge shock that Wicked has resonated with more people. It's a massive franchise that has loyal fans among the girls, the gays and the musical theatre crowd.

Not to mention, Ariana Grande's army of stans (aka the Arianators) would play a huge part in boosting sales.

The appeal of Gladiator II is slightly more limited, with the movie drawing in fans of the original Gladiator, straight men, and let's be real, people with a crush on Paul Mescal or Pedro Pascal (guilty).

Wicked has an edge.

But if the movies ever choose to combine their press tours for part two of Wicked and Gladiator III, I will be seated.

Feature image: Getty.