‘Sad’ Wicked selfie omitting Marissa Bode goes viral - there’s more than meets the eye

The latest Wicked: For Good press tour has proved an eventful one indeed, with the internet being treated to a bunch of viral moments throughout.

However, as we know, it's clear that the internet, and Wicked fandom specifically, can run wild with fan theories without always knowing the full story, with one of the latest updates in the saga seeing Marissa Bode, who plays Nessarose Thropp, going viral for a very particular reason.

The 25-year-old actress, who uses a wheelchair, found herself at the centre of a very uncomfortable controversy after a selfie taken during the film’s London premiere earlier this month sent social media users into a right spiral.

The photo in question shows Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo posing with what appears to be a fan, while Bode sits in front of them in her wheelchair.

Wicked fans have set the record straight after a 'sad' selfie omitting Marissa Bode went viral (Dave Benett / Contributor / Getty Images)

After catching a glimpse of the snap, many rushed online to hit out at the group for seemingly excluding her.

However, what internet critics conveniently ignored was that the woman in question did take a selfie that included Bode. Universal Pictures actually shared a load of snaps from the London leg of the press tour a few weeks back (12 November), showing the group selfie.

Without that context, some thought it appeared as if Bode had been deliberately ignored. Needless to say, the internet had already run with the story, but many Wicked fans have now rushed in to reveal what really happened.

After seeing the now-viral selfie, one fan rushed to social media to write: "This is kinda sad."

"Nah, bro, this is so mean??" hit out a second, while a third lamented: "I genuinely feel bad for her right now."

A fourth agreed: "Honestly, that’s not cool at all."

Critics hit out over the selfie's lack of 'inclusion' (Universal)

Others then took the opportunity to call out the lack of 'inclusion' that the photo allegedly represented, with a fifth slamming: "A selfie, even if it's a small thing, symbolises representation. When a wheelchair user is left out of a group photo, it sends the message, even if unintentionally, that they aren't "part of the group" or that their inclusion was inconvenient. This is disappointing."

Another critic echoed: "Yeah, guys, this is unfortunately not shocking as a disabled person; this picture is so sadly relatable."

Fans rushed in to give the full context surrounding the viral selfie (Universal)

Many other fans, however, were quick to point out that this particular selfie was one of many taken in that moment, with another image showing Bode smiling alongside Grande, Erivo and Bronwyn James as they all bent down to pose in the group photo.

"How bout we stop manipulating things for clout?" slammed one fan, while a second outlined: "Stop it with the selective screenshots—she posed with EVERYONE. They just handpick the worst angle and call it a day."

A third pointed out: "Bro they took a picture with her."

"Guys, stop cherrypicking. She literally took pics with everyone!! They just pick the worst one and post it, huh?" questioned a fourth, while another fumed: "They took multiple pictures she was in the other ones, she just wasn’t in that one."

And a final social media user highlighted: "See how y’all take some and run with it. She took pictures with everyone. God forbid she wanted ONE photo with the two main characters of the movie ?? Y'all drag everything, my God."