Warning: This story contains spoilers from season 1 of Wednesday.
It is all between the lines. Netflix’s Wednesday spinoff series may not be a direct follow-up to the Addams Family films — but the show seems to pay tribute to the movies in its own way.
The series, which premiered in November 2022, explores a coming-of-age mystery that focuses on Wednesday Addams as she attempts to master her psychic powers, solve a killing spree in town and adjust to life at a new school.
Fans of The Addams Family and its subsequent sequel, Addams Family Values, were pleasantly surprised by Christina Ricci‘s addition to the cast. The actress previously brought Wednesday Addams to life in the ’90s.
According to creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, it was important to involve the Yellowjackets star in their version of the story. “We all wanted her in the show,” Gough said in an interview with Gold Derby in November 2022. “[Director] Tim [Burton] had worked with her in Sleepy Hollow. Miles and I wanted to honor those ’90s movies and thought if we could get her in the show that would be real cool.”
The screenwriter continued: “She really loved that this was a chapter that hadn’t been told before. It wasn’t watching a version of what she had done again. When she jumped in it kind of gave the show the stamp of approval that you’re always hoping for.”
The collaborators also praised Jenna Ortega‘s original approach to the lead character.
“It’s all about her. When we sat with Tim the three of us agreed, unless we find the right Wednesday there’s no show. The search for Wednesday was our primary focus for months and we saw hundreds of actresses. Even though Jenna was on our radar almost immediately, we really wanted to do a deep dive,” Millar detailed at the time. “When she read the scene, it was just like magic. So, we called Tim and said, ‘We think we’ve found her.’ So, we met with her together. She just possessed the role. She was not only visually perfect, but she had the right attitude, the right intelligence.”
Gough noted that their version of Wednesday would hint at her past origins. “For us, it was showing Wednesday as a teenager, showing her in boarding school, away from her family, but a boarding school that still had that sort of Addams vibe,” the producer shared with Nerds of Color one month prior. “She’s a young woman who likes who she is, knows who she is, and says what she wants. She’s very much a truth-teller and I think that’s something that’s important to put out there today.”
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Scroll on for a full breakdown of how Wednesday gives credit to the Addams Family films:
