Wonka ending explained
Warner Bros.Wonka is in cinemas now, telling the origin story of Roald Dahl’s chocolatier – here’s a breakdown of the new movie’s ending.
It’s a world of pure imagination but one which has changed over time – from the Roald Dahl books to the 1971 and 2005 films starring Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp respectively.
This time, Paddington director Paul King takes on Wonka’s story before the infamous chocolate factory, following the footsteps of how he went from zero to hero.
Ready to know everything there is to know about Willy Wonka? Here’s everything you need to know about the Wonka ending explained. Warning – spoilers ahead!
Wonka ending explained: Willy nearly lost it all
At the beginning of Wonka, we see the unknown chocolatier (Timothée Chalamet) head to a brand-new city renowned for its expert chocolate. He plans to make his fortune there, selling chocolates on the street to pay for a shop of his own. Not wasting any time, he sets up shop in front of three well-known chocolatiers – Prodnose (Matt Lucas), Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), and Fickelgruber (Mathe Baynton). Displaying his ‘Hoverchocs,’ the Chief of Police (Keegan Michael Key) is called to bring things to a close.
Cold and alone, Wonka has no choice but to sleep on a cold bench. Bleacher (Tom Davis) finds him and offers him a place to stay at Mrs. Scrubbit’s (Olivia Colman) laundrette. Once there, Wonka is advised to carefully read the terms and conditions of the room’s small print by a young girl called Noodle (Calah Lane), but he signs anyway. After heading back to sell chocolates the next day to no success, Wonka finds out that he now owes Mrs. Scrubbit more money than thought – or has on him. His punishment is to work his payment off in the laundrette basement for the next 27 years.
Once down there, Wonka meets the fellow victims of Mrs. Scrubbit’s scam – Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), Piper Benz (Natasha Rothwell), Lottie Bell (Rakhee Thakrar), and Larry Chuckleworth (Rich Fulcher). They spend their days ironing and cleaning for the laundrette while never leaving, although Wonka has other ideas. He conspires with Noodle to break out of the laundrette by getting Bleacher and Mrs. Scrubbit together as a distraction, with his chocolate now attracting attention.
Wonka’s plans start to take off
Warner Bros.Unfortunately for Wonka, some of that attention isn’t good. Slugworth, Prodnose, and Fickelgruber are intent on bringing him down, coaxing the Chief of Police into taking Wonka out by bribing him with a supply of their chocolate. The three work together in a “chocolate cabal” as Abacus calls it, storing the majority of their pure chocolate in a vault under the church guarded by a Priest (Rowan Atkinson). Wonka does initially get caught, but with the help of the laundrette team, they begin to outwit him.
At the same time, Wonka meets an Oompa Loompa (Hugh Grant) for the first time, after telling Noodle he had been stealing Wonka’s chocolates. The Oompa Loompa explains that the stealing is payback for taking chocolate beans from Loompa Land. The thief had been exiled, tasked with bringing back what was rightfully theirs. Wonka dreams of his mother (Sally Hawkins), keeping close the last bar of chocolate she ever made him.
Wonka and Noodle grow closer, having epic adventures across the city while getting new ingredients for Wonka. The rest of the laundrette staff are enjoying things too, eventually selling enough chocolate collectively to open Wonka’s dream shop. It’s a world of pure imagination inside (as we’d expect) but the Chocolate Cabal is intent on putting an end to things. They reveal the team’s escape to Mrs. Scrubbit, who helps them poison Wonka’s chocolate, turning his customers against him.
Don’t panic, there’s a happy-ever-after
The Chocolate Cabal proposition Wonka with a trade-off – all the money to pay back the laundrette debts of everyone staying there for Wonka to leave and never make chocolate again. He obliges, and is packed off on a boat heading to the Arctic. Wonka once again runs into the Oompa Loompa, who convinces him to stand up to the trio while trying to get more Loompa chocolate back. They both find out the boat is laced with explosives, sending them back to land in safety.
The Wonka ending sees the laundrette team reunite after Mrs. Scrubbit punished Noodle. Slugworth had paid her off to keep Noodle there, revealing that he is actually related to her. After trying to locate the trio’s real accounts book to expose their crimes, Noodle and Wonka break into the vault underneath the church. The Chocolate Cabal finds out and throws them both into a chocolate vat, leaving them for dead. Intent on getting his last jar of chocolate back, the Oompa Loompa frees them both, stating that Loompa Land doesn’t do negotiations.
Once outside, the accounts book is revealed, alongside the Chief of Police’s corruption. The trio is arrested by a new head of police and all is well in the town. Wonka’s chocolate reigns supreme, and he finally shares his mother’s chocolate bar with those around him. Noodle is reunited with her birth mother and Wonka with the Oompa Loompa, asking him to become head taster at his new venture – a chocolate factory.
Wonka is in cinemas now. You can check out our other coverage below: