Wednesday (TV series)

Wednesday is an American supernatural mystery comedy television series based on the character Wednesday Addams by Charles Addams. Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, it stars Jenna Ortega as the titular character, with Luis Guzmán and Catherine Zeta-Jones portraying her parents in the series. Four episodes of each season were directed by Tim Burton, who serves as executive producer. The first season revolves around Wednesday Addams, who attempts to solve a murder mystery at her new school.

Burton was previously approached to direct the 1991 film The Addams Family and was later involved in a canceled stop-motion animated film featuring the Addams Family. In October 2020, he was reported to be helming a television series, which was later given a series order by Netflix. Ortega was cast in part to represent the character's Latina heritage. Christina Ricci, who had played Wednesday in the 1991 film and its 1993 sequel Addams Family Values, was asked by Burton to join the series in a supporting role.

Wednesday premiered on November 16, 2022, and was released on Netflix on November 23 to positive reviews from critics; Ortega's performance received critical acclaim. Within three weeks of release, it became the second-most watched English-language Netflix series. It received three Golden Globe nominations: one for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and two for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for Ortega. It also won four Primetime Emmy Awards, while receiving nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Ortega. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on August 6, 2025; the second half was released on September 3. In July 2025, the series was renewed for a third season.

Premise

Wednesday Addams is expelled from her school after dumping live piranhas into the school's pool in retaliation for the boys' water polo team bullying her brother Pugsley. Consequently, her parents Gomez and Morticia Addams transfer her to their high school alma mater Nevermore Academy, a private school that was established for outcasts and monsters, in the town of Jericho, Vermont. Wednesday's cold, emotionless personality and her defiant nature make it difficult for her to connect with her schoolmates and cause her to run afoul of the school's principal, Larissa Weems. However, she discovers she has inherited her mother's psychic abilities, which allow her to solve a local murder mystery.

In the second season, Wednesday returns to Nevermore and, while developing her psychic abilities, must face a new tormentor and prevent her roommate's death. In addition, Pugsley enrolls at Nevermore as Weems' successor Barry Dort wants Morticia to take on a fundraising role while he looks after his own interests.

Cast and characters

• Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, a teenager who possesses psychic abilities
  • Ortega also portrays Goody Addams (season 1), Wednesday's deceased ancestor from the 1600s, who appears in her visions
  • Karina Váradi (season 1) and Emily Ring (season 2) portray a young Wednesday Addams
• Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems (season 1; recurring season 2), the shapeshifting principal of Nevermore Academy and a former student who was Morticia's roommate. During the second season, Weems returns as Wednesday's spirit guide because they are 13th cousins twice removed.
  • Oliver Wickham portrays a young Larissa Weems
• Riki Lindhome as Dr. Valerie Kinbott (season 1), Wednesday's Nevermore-appointed therapist from the town of Jericho
• Jamie McShane as Donovan Galpin (season 1; recurring season 2), the sheriff of Jericho
  • Ben Wilson portrays a young Donovan Galpin
• Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin, a local coffee shop barista and Sheriff Galpin's son, who is later revealed to be a Hyde
• Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe (season 1), a psychic student at Nevermore who experiences visions during his dreams and can make art come to life
• Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Wednesday's werewolf roommate in Ophelia Hall at Nevermore
• Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay, a siren queen bee in Puck Hall at Nevermore and Xavier's ex-girlfriend
• Georgie Farmer as Ajax Petropolus, a gorgon student at Nevermore who has a romantic interest in Enid
• Naomi J. Ogawa as Yoko Tanaka (season 1), a vampire student at Nevermore
• Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill / Laurel Gates (season 1; guest season 2), the botany teacher at Nevermore and dorm mother of Wednesday and Enid. Ricci previously portrayed Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values.
• Moosa Mostafa as Eugene Ottinger, a student in Caliban Hall at Nevermore with the ability to control bees and later other types of arthropods
• Steve Buscemi as Barry Dort (season 2), the pyrokinetic successor of Principal Weems at Nevermore Academy
• Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams (season 2–present; guest season 1), Wednesday's younger brother. In the second season, he begins to develop the ability to generate static electricity similar to his uncle.
• Owen Painter as Isaac Night / "Slurp" (season 2), the reanimated corpse of a former student at Nevermore with mad scientist proclivities
• Billie Piper as Isadora Capri (season 2–present), a former child prodigy and werewolf music teacher at Nevermore
• Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Ritchie Santiago (season 2–present; recurring season 1), a deputy of Sheriff Galpin. In the second season, she is the new sheriff of Jericho following Galpin's resignation.
• Victor Dorobantu as Thing (season 2–present; recurring season 1), a sentient disembodied hand who is sent to watch over Wednesday at Nevermore
• Noah B. Taylor as Bruno Yuson (season 2), a werewolf student in Thisbe Hall at Nevermore
• Evie Templeton as Agnes DeMille (season 2–present), Wednesday's obsessed fan and a student in Ophelia Hall at Nevermore with the ability to turn invisible
• Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams (season 2–present; guest season 1), Wednesday's lawyer father and Morticia's passionate husband
  • Lucius Hoyos portrays a young Gomez Addams
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams (née Frump) (season 2–present; guest season 1), Wednesday's mother, who attended Nevermore Academy with her husband when she was younger and is a psychic similar to her daughter
  • Gwen Jones portrays a young Morticia Frump
• Eva Green as Ophelia Frump (season 3), Morticia's younger sister and Wednesday's aunt
• Joanna Lumley as Grandmama Hester Frump (season 3; recurring season 2), Morticia and Ophelia's mother and Wednesday's grandmother

Episodes

Season 1 (2022)

Season 2 (2025)

Production

Development

During pre-production on The Addams Family (1991), Tim Burton was approached to direct, but ended up passing on it due to scheduling conflicts with Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), resulting in Barry Sonnenfeld taking the job. In March 2010, it was announced that Illumination Entertainment had acquired the underlying rights to the Addams Family drawings. The film was planned to be a stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams's original drawings. Burton was set to co-write, co-produce and possibly direct the film. In July 2013, it was reported that the film was canceled, which, according to Burton, was due to the studio favoring a computer-animated approach over the stop-motion technique.

Showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough started developing story ideas in 2019. They subsequently acquired the rights to the intellectual property before writing a television pilot script, which they sent to Burton. To their surprise, Burton immediately became interested upon receiving the script. Commenting about his decision to join the project, Burton stated that he could relate to the titular character's worldview and that the script "spoke to me about how I felt in school and how you feel about your parents, how you feel as a person. It gave the Addams Family a different kind of reality. It was an interesting combination". Feeling creatively drained after Dumbo (2019), Burton considered retiring from the industry, being left to his own "feelings and things" during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the offer to make Wednesday reconnected his love to filmmaking and served him as a "health camp". Millar stated that it was "very important" to the creative team not to emulate the prior films and 1964 television series. Millar and Gough decided to make the juxtaposition of "outcasts" and "normies", as well as criticism of colonial Americans, major themes in the series.