Wednesday: Netflix’s Addams Family Reboot Brings Back Christina Ricci

Nearly 30 years after first appearing as Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci is returning to the beloved horror franchise. After longstanding rumors of Ricci’s return in Wednesday, a new series in the Addams Family Universe set on Netflix, Hollywood trades are now confirming the actor’s return.

It’s said Ricci is playing an all-new character in the series, a series regular nonetheless, and won’t be playing an older version of the eponymous trickster. That role goes to Scream standout Jenna Ortega, who will be joined by the likes Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman, playing Morticia and Gomez Addams, respectively.

“We’ve never seen her as a teenage girl,” Ortega previously 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.” 

Wednesday has been billed as a coming-of-age comedy produced and directed by Tim Burton and written by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar.

“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,” Netflix original series director Teddy Biaselli said in a release when the series was first announced. “Tim has had a history of telling empowering stories about social outsiders like Edward Scissorhands, Lydia Deitz, and Batman. And now he brings his unique vision to Wednesday and her spooky classmates at Nevermore Academy.”

Previous rumors suggested Netflix was eyeing Ricci for the role of Morticia, though that doesn’t appear to be the case here. The initial report from Deadline says Ricci’s character is replacing the role left by Thora Birch after the Hocus Pocus alumn departed the production last year. 

Stay tuned for details on Wednesday.