Forget Thanksgiving football because Netflix is rivaling with its expected new Addams Family show Wednesday. Director Tim Burton enters TV in what seems like the perfect match for him, and Jenna Ortega takes the helm as our leading lady. Read on to gear yourself up on things to know ahead of the show’s premiere!
Netflix will be releasing its new comedy-horror show Wednesday on Nov. 23, centering on the titular Wednesday Addams character during her time at Nevermore Academy. Starring Jenna Ortega in the titular role — who continues to prove she’s 2022’s horror “It-Girl” after Scream and X — as she attempts to master her new psychic abilities while solving a mystery her parents were entangled in. All eight episodes of the first season will premiere at once. Here are all the things you need to catch up on before it hits the small screen!
The Cast
Alongside Ortega, expect a couple of appearances from the whole infamous Addams family. Luis Guzman will take up the helm as Gomez with Catherine Zeta-Jones at his side as Morticia. Isaac Ordonez will play Pugsley, Wednesday’s brother. Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie will portray Principal Larissa Weems. Her character is at odds with the Addams Family due to an old history with Morticia, her former roommate at Nevermore. But the actress everyone is excited to see is Yellowjackets’ Christina Ricci, who originally played Wednesday in the 1991 film The Addams Family. Ricci was confirmed to appear back in March, but it wasn’t until the official trailer released in early October at New York Comic Con that it was revealed that she’ll be playing new character, Marilyn Thornhill. It also unveiled Fred Armisen as the beloved Uncle Fester.
It’s A Tim Burton Project
Director Tim Burton who is infamous for movies like Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Beetlejuice will be an executive producer for the Wednesday series and directed four of the eight episodes. This will be his TV directorial debut. In Oct. 2020, it was originally announced as an unnamed The Addams Family development tied to Burton’s name. In an interview with Variety, Ricci said Burton had personally asked her to be a part of the next reiteration of Wednesday Addams. In Burton’s own Variety interview, he said he grew up drawn to the character, resonating with her while watching the original Addams Family TV series and looking at Charles Adams’ cartoons. While she has usually been portrayed as a child, he wanted to give her a teenage status, a new, less cartoony reality. Co-showrunners and executive producers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough said it was crucial to make this show a new chapter of Wednesday Addams as she starts her journey into adulthood, not a reboot or remake. The show was shot over eight months in Romania. His longtime, frequent costume designer Colleen Atwood — a four-time Academy Award winner — helped bring the Wednesday characters to life with her wardrobe designs.
The Plot
The show has been described as a twisted and mysterious coming-of-age as Wednesday has to navigate a new school and new relationships while being the “odd” one out. She goes to Nevermore after being kicked out of eight schools within five years, and she’s already planning her escape upon arrival. There’s also a killing spree going on in New England’s picturesque town of Jericho, affecting her classmates. Plus, there are plenty of supernatural happenings to keep us infatuated, like Wednesday’s own psychic powers and the mystery surrounding her parents from 25 years ago. Wednesday will be the outcast of all outcasts, as the school is filled with supernatural beings, making up four main cliques: the Fangs (vampires), Furs (werewolves), Scales (sirens), and the Stoners.
The New York Comic Con Panel
The October 2022 NYCC Wednesday panel introduced the official full trailer and cast/crew members expanded on what’s to come, hinting while sharing their experiences. It included Ortega, Guzman, Christie, and showrunners Gough and Millar, as well as a surprise appearance from Armisen and a video from Burton. The showrunner duo said it’s everything you would expect and come to love from a Tim Burton film, calling it “gothic” and “macabre.” Guzman and Christie were supportive of their fellow cast members, the latter saying that it was an “unadulterated pleasure” working with Ortega. All three were honored to have been approached by Burton himself for this project. Armisen said when he heard about the show, he went “Oh, I got to be Fester,” committing to the role by shaving his head bald in tradition of the character. Later, he said “I didn’t even think if it’s episodic or a movie, I’d just rather be in a scene and make the scene work” on the topic of Burton seeing his first show as an eight-hour movie. Ortega noted that Wednesday and Morticia’s relationship is a “pivotal” part of the show. It’ll be interesting to see how Christie’s character handles Wednesday’s arrival in her newfound position of power, with the actress calling the mother-daughter duo a “revolutionary dynamic” with “all sorts of strange things” to come from it. Ortega noted how intriguing it was to explore an emotional arc for a character who’s emotionless. She called her character a “creepy little freak” that has an impact on all the “weirdos in the world,” urging people to go watch.
You can catch the new series on November 23rd on Netflix!
