Wednesday‘s three-year hiatus has been filled with impromptu dance interludes while the series has remained on Netflix’s Top 10 Most Watched TV shows in the streamer’s history. In the interim, director Tim Burton and star Jenna Ortega released the successful Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sequel, which saved the dark fantasy director from retirement (after that Dumbo debacle), as revealed by Burton himself. Yet ultimate goth daughter’s success surely did not hurt, and fortunately, the rest is macabre history, so let’s piece together the clues on what misery Wednesday Addams shall bring next.
Plot
Netflix has newly revealed this photo of Ortega looking mysteriously stony faced, and it’s not looking good for Tyler after his Hyde status surfaced. Below, a preview clip shows Wednesday visiting him at Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, and of course her poker face doesn’t reveal whether she’s making a social call or something not so benevolent. She only smiles when Uncle Gomez shows up, so the jury is out on her mood. Regardless, Tyler is surely missing the semi-good-natured jump scare that she gave him at the school dance, although Ortega revealed that Wednesday will continue to jump scare in a story partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Couple that with Little Storm Cloud keeping her amateur detective skills honed, and we should expect more mystery (including the search to unmask Wednesday’s stalker, as revealed by the final moments of the first season) to unfold in a premiere episode called “Here We Woe Again,” which brings Burton back to the director’s chair. Meanwhile, co-showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar have dropped some hints: “This season, Wednesday’s journey is darker and more complex as she navigates family, friends, new mysteries, and old adversaries, propelling her headlong into another year at Nevermore.” They added, “Season 2 will be delightfully dark, kooky, and mysterious. If we told you why, Wednesday would kill us. So our lips are sealed.”
Ortega weighed in on her respect for Wednesday, too: “[She] sticks to her guns, and she’s not out to please anybody, [w]hich, as someone who used to be an immense people pleaser, I really respect.” Wednesday, will, however, be working on her bonding abilities with Morticia, and ideally, Gomez will keep growing his list of adorable nicknames (“Little Viper,” “Little Tormenta,” “Little Storm Cloud,” and so on) for his daughter.
Presumably as well, Ortega’s input into this second season has vastly increased on a formal level, since she’s now executive producing. In regard to the first season, she controversially confessed to Hollywood Reporter, “There was times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional, in a sense, where I just started changing lines. The script supervisor thought that I was going with something, and then I would have to sit down with the writers and they would be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things.” She then added, “I grew very, very protective of [Wednesday].” No kidding.
Cast
Jenna Ortega is the Wednesday Addams of her generation. Likewise, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman make a fitting Morticia and Gomez Addams for our times. Thing will be back because nobody can stop Thing, and there’s no confirmation for an Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) return as Uncle Fester (or an update on that reported spin off) to elicit the rare Wednesday smile. Supposedly, a new member of the fam will also make their debut.
Emma Meyers will return as Enid, who had made a full reconciliation with her gloomy roommate. Hunter Doohan is back as Tyler, perhaps not for long, but Percy Hynes White was dismissed Xavier Thorpe, and both Naomi J. Ogawa and Jamie McShane are no longer regulars.
New cast members, including Billie Piper (as Capri), Joanna Lumley (as Grandmama), Thandiwe Newton (as Dr. Fairburn) Owen Painter, Noah Taylor, and Evie Templeton, will fill that void.
No word has surfaced about Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornill (probably not, given her character’s revelations), but Gwendoline Christie can’t resist teasing whether Principal Weems is really dead. Officially, however, Steve Buscemi is now portraying the new Nevermore Academy principal Barry Dort. As for Lady Gaga’s role? Your guess is as good as ours, but she should be monstrous.
Release Date
Wednesday will bring woe back sometime in 2025. This next season sounds a lot like a Halloween arrival.
Trailer
We’ve already covered the teaser and preview videos, but the Wednesday Addams dance never gets old.