Wednesday Addams is the title character and protagonist of the Netflix television series Wednesday. Based on the character of the same name by Charles Addams, she is portrayed by Jenna Ortega. A psychic student at Nevermore Academy, Wednesday uses her powers to investigate murders and prevent foreseen deaths. Wednesday's macabre, antisocial personality hides her humanity and emotional growth, which eventually allow her to form connections. The character has also been briefly portrayed by several other actresses in the series, most notably Emma Myers.
Like they had done with Clark Kent in Smallville, writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar sought to explore and humanize an iconic character, envisioning Wednesday as a character study of the Addams Family most popular member. Despite crafting their version of the character as a direct continuation of her 1991 and 1993 depictions, the series creators gave her several differentiations, including emotional complexity, the casting of a Latina actress, her age, and her appearance. Ortega exercised creative influence over the character, eventually becoming a producer. After being the focus of the first season partly due to budget constraints, Wednesday's presence was reduced in the second season, while her divisive romance angle was abandoned.
This iteration of Wednesday Addams has been called "media's first female Latinx detective" as well as a pop culture icon. Several journalists have considered her the best version of the character, while Digital Spy has ranked her among the greatest female television characters of the 21st century. However, several aspects of her adaptation have been criticized. Ortega's performance has received critical acclaim, while the role elevated her to greater fame. A subject of analysis, the character has been called "among the very first intersectional portrayals of an autistic-coded person in media".
Concept and creation Background
The character that would eventually become known as Wednesday Addams was introduced in June 1940 in a single-panel comic created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. In 1944, the unnamed, young girl joined the rest of her "satirical and often quite macabre" family in her official debut in The New Yorker. The girl was characterized by her black dress, Peter Pan collar, pigtails, melancholy, and macabre nature, though the latter was the least noticeable of the family.
In 1962, for a licensed doll collection, the girl was one of the first members of her family to receive a name, Wednesday, inspired by a line from the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child". In 1964, Addams's comics were adapted into television, with the series The Addams Family. As its name suggests, the series gave the family its creator's surname, giving Wednesday her full name. Wednesday Addams, portrayed by Lisa Loring, was adapted into a normal child who contrasted with the rest of her family. A short-lived 1973 animated series also kept Wednesday's more normal disposition.
The character was changed drastically for the 1991 feature film, turning her into a "true goth icon". Wednesday, now portrayed by Christina Ricci, was adapted into a preadolescent, sarcastic, cold, homicidal character. In the 1993 sequel, Wednesday showed her potential as a main character for the first time, leading the film's subplot. The 1990s films revived interest in The Addams Family and Wednesday in particular, making her largely the main character of the franchise moving forward. At a time when grunge was culturally prominent, Wednesday became a "leading figure for the gothcore movement". Wednesday's personality in these films was kept in most future installments.
Adaptation
In 2018, after several years of showrunning abroad, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar returned to the United States, wanting to create another series similar to their work Smallville. Like Clark Kent, they sought a character with a life phase not yet depicted. Inspired by their love for the character and their parenthood of teenage daughters, they decided to explore "[what it would] be like to hang out with teenage Wednesday Addams". Once again humanizing a one-note, iconic character with emotional complexity, they envisioned the series as a character study; the first season in particular would heavily focus on the character, partly due to budget constraints. Originally wanting to make a prequel series for Miss Marple, Gough and Millar were influenced by this and other detective fiction such as Murder, She Wrote when designing Wednesday, making her a detective and crime writer. The showrunners created a character arc for Wednesday in the first season, evolving her capacity for human connection by "[moving] that dial one notch". Considering their Wednesday a direct continuation of her 1990s iteration, they were cautious against changing the character too much.
Gough, Millar, and director Tim Burton agreed that finding the right actress to play Wednesday was "the make-or-break of the show". They sought a Latina actress in honor of Gomez Addams's heritage. Auditioning hundreds of actresses, the creators considered Jenna Ortega perfect for the role immediately due to her appearance, attitude, and intelligence, casting her as Wednesday title character in May 2021. Ortega considered it important to have her own different portrayal of the character, rather than doing a "knockoff" of Ricci's performance. Subsequently, she gave the character more social awkwardness and a more concealed confidence. She learned several skills for the role, including playing the cello, speaking German, fencing, archery, and canoeing. Burton and Ortega established the character's expression very early, namely her lack of blinking, use of the Kubrick stare, relaxation of facial muscles, and use of eyebrows to convey reaction. A lack of blinking was common in Burton's previous films; Ortega struggled to keep her eyes open in the Romanian winter, blinking during other actors' lines. Despite Wednesday's stoicism, Burton has commented on Ortega "[emoting] with her eyes", comparing it to silent film.
Ortega affected the character beyond her performance. She signed onto the series anticipating a dark tone but was surprised to read that the scripts were written for younger audiences. Not wanting to see a character that she respected change too much for a teen series, Ortega fought to "protect" Wednesday, later saying: "I don't think I've ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday." The actress simultaneously campaigned to make the character more three-dimensional, while also pushing against over-humanization that would "make her any other teenage girl". Considering much of Wednesday's characterization and storyline nonsensical, Ortega changed and cut many of her lines. Ortega ultimately had Burton's support on her vision for the character, though the two disagreed on the proper amount of emotion for Wednesday to show. Burton wanted Wednesday to be expressionless in the episodes he directed, while other episode directors also had their own visions for the character. Ortega felt that she did not always have others' trust in creating her character's emotional arc. There were "a lot of battles" on set regarding the character.
While not straying too far from Wednesday's established black-and-white look, Colleen Atwood costume team nonetheless sought to modernize her wardrobe. They introduced Wednesday in her vintage dress as a tribute to past works and to establish her as an outsider in a contemporary world, but her transfer to Nevermore Academy "[opened the floodgates] for creativity". The vintage dress was replaced with clothes such as a custom school uniform, hoodies, and pants. Her casual looks were made to remain faithful to the character while also making her more relatable, with Atwood commenting that she "wanted Wednesday to be a person that, like the other kids, went out and did things". Burton also considered it important that the character look different from previous iterations, approving the bangs suggested by Ortega. To make her stand out, Wednesday was made the only character, including background extras, that ever wears the colors black or white.
Wanting to give Ortega some relief after she had appeared in nearly every scene of the first season, and now having the "freedom to really do the show [they] always wanted to do", Gough and Millar reduced Wednesday's presence in the second season as they expanded the scope of the series. After having unsuccessfully negotiated for the role before the first season, Ortega took on the additional role of executive producer, which made her feel "more empowered to speak [her] mind". Subsequently, the idea of Wednesday having a romantic interest was abandoned, after Ortega had previously criticized the first season's love triangle. Seeking to give Wednesday obstacles and a weakness, Gough and Millar made her relationships "treacherous" and took away her psychic ability. To explore the characters' social perceptions and highlight their specific cadences, Gough and Millar created an episode in which Wednesday swaps bodies with her roommate, Enid. Although Enid's actress, Emma Myers, had previously auditioned for the role of Wednesday, she did not use that experience when playing Wednesday and instead based her performance on Ortega, memorizing her costar's body language.
Character biography Background Wednesday Addams was born into a wealthy, eccentric New Jersey family. One day, when Wednesday was six years old, bullies ambushed her and killed her pet scorpion Nero in front of her. After burying and grieving her pet, Wednesday vowed to never cry again, assessing that her tears did not fix anything. Despite having perfect grades, her education was troubled; from ages ten to fifteen, she attended eight schools, ending with her current one, Nancy Reagan High School. An aspiring author, she wrote multiple mature, unpublished novels centered on the teen girl detective Viper de la Muerte, whom a therapist will later imply to be Wednesday's self-insert. At roughly age fourteen, she began having psychic visions but refused to tell her family.
Season 1
Wednesday is expelled from Nancy Reagan High School after mutilating her brother Pugsley's bully with piranhas. She transfers to her parents' alma mater, Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for "outcasts", outside Jericho, Vermont. Wednesday meets and forms tense or uncertain relationships with several people at her new school, including Principal Weems, werewolf roommate Enid Sinclair, and housemaster Marilyn Thornhill, as well as town resident Tyler Galpin. She also uncovers her spy, a sentient disembodied hand named Thing, and secures his allegiance. While attempting to escape from the school, Wednesday is nearly murdered by a classmate, who cites a prophecy that Wednesday will destroy Nevermore. To prevent her greatest fear of being responsible for something terrible, Wednesday decides to remain at the school to investigate the local murders and prophecy.
While doing so, she helps prove her father's innocence of murder, learns that she is a type of dark psychic known as a Raven, becomes romantically closer to Tyler, and admits to Enid that she is evolving as a person. Her uncle Fester informs her that the monster that she is looking for is a "Hyde", an enslaved person that can become a murderous monster at the whims of their master. Tyler and Thornhill are revealed as the Hyde and his master, respectively. Thornhill murders Weems and uses Wednesday to resurrect the genocidal colonist Joseph Crackstone to fulfill the prophecy of Nevermore's destruction. Thornhill, Tyler, and Crackstone are defeated by Wednesday and her allies. Having avoided emotional intimacy with her classmates until now, Wednesday shares a hug with Enid. While going home for the summer, Wednesday receives a threatening text message from an unknown stalker.
Season 2