Addams Family Spinoff Wednesday Adds Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia

Following news last week that character actor Luis Guzman would take on the role of Gomez Addams [...]

By Spencer Perry

Following news last week that character actor Luis Guzman would take on the role of Gomez Addams in Netflix's new TV series Wednesday, the streamer has confirmed who will star opposite him as Morticia with Academy Award winner Catherine Zeta-Jones playing the matriarch of the family. Former Disney Channel star Jenna Ortega stars in the titular role of the show. Zeta-Jones joins an impressive roster of actresses that have played the role of Morticia Addams since the 1960s including Carolyn Jones in the original TV series, Anjelica Huston in the 1990s movie reboots, and recently Charlize Theron who voiced the part for the 2019 animated movie.

Instead of chilling around the family manor, the show will see Wednesday as a student at Nevermore Academy. While attending the institution, she had to master her psychic powers and stop a murder wave that threatens the surrounding area. There was a big dust-up with her parents 25 years ago, and whatever's going on is related to their past with the town surrounding Nevermore. All the while, she'll have to balance school life and new relationships.

The new TV series will be directed and executive produced by acclaimed filmmaker Tim Burton, marking his first forray into television after a decades long career in movies. When the series was first announced Netflix made it clear how excited they were to be in the Burton business.

"When we first heard Al Gough and Miles Millar's pitch for Wednesday we were struck, like an arrow from a crossbow, right in our hearts," Netflix original series director Teddy Biaselli wrote announcement press release. "They nailed the tone, the spirit and the characters, but gave us a fresh way into this story. The upcoming eight-episode series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday's years as a student at the peculiar Nevermore Academy. Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago - all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships of the strange and diverse student body."

He added, "We then got the call that visionary director and lifelong Addams Family fan Tim Burton wanted to make his television directorial debut with this series. Tim has had a history of telling empowering stories about social outsiders like Edward Scissorhands, Lydia Deetz, and Batman. And now he brings his unique vision to Wednesday and her spooky classmates at Nevermore Academy."

What are you hoping to see in the Wednesday TV series on Netflix and what do you think of the casting of Catherine Zeta-Jones? Let us know in the comments below!

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