Wednesday: Netflix Releases New Featurette About Bringing Iconic Addams Family Characters to Life

The beloved cartoon characters the Addams Family have had a devout following for decades, with those figures having been adapted into a number of mediums since their debut. The latest take on the material is in the form of Netflix’s Wednesday, a spinoff focusing on Wednesday Addams, as played by Jenna Ortega. This new approach to the concept presented the cast and crew with a number of exciting opportunities to embrace iconic elements while also putting a fresh spin on the material, which you can learn more about in the featurette below. Stay tuned for details on Wednesday before it premieres on Netflix this fall.

The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at 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 at Nevermore.

Despite the character being adapted multiple times over the years, the specifics of this new series offer fresh storytelling opportunities, which Ortega previously detailed.

“We’ve never seen her as a teenage girl,” Ortega explained to Entertainment Weekly. “You know, it’s funny and sweet and almost charming to hear this eight-year-old’s obsession with murder and blood and guts. As she gets older, that nasty attitude or [those] biting remarks, it’s almost kind of hard to not make it sound like every other teenage girl. So, it’s like, how do we establish this character and give her the same fire without letting her become something that she’s not? Also, it’s eight-hour series so, for an emotionless character, there has to be some sort of an emotional arc.” 

She added, “That’s been really interesting to figure out in terms of, okay, well, she’s got to be able to push the story forward in some way but how do we keep her true to her deadpan self? It’s been a bit of a challenge and I’m curious to see how it plays. I’ve never had the opportunity to play an iconic character before. I know she’s well-loved and well-respected and I just don’t want to mess her up.”

Stay tuned for details on Wednesday before it premieres later this year.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!