Netflix’s Wednesday creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar explain how the TV series will see an evolution of the titular Addams family character. Wednesday is a horror comedy series set to premiere on Netflix November 23, 2022. The series is the latest live-action adaption of the fictional macabre family created by cartoonist Charles Addams in 1939. Over the decades, the Addams family have seen several adaptions, including the highly popular 1964 TV series and a film series created by Barry Sonnenfeld. More recently, the Addams family received two computer animated adaptions, but Netflix’s Wednesday is the first live-action adaption in over two decades.
Directed by Tim Burton, Wednesday will follow the Addams family daughter as a high school student at Nevermore Academy. There, she must navigate teen life and relationships, while also exploring her family history and her psychic powers. Luis Guzmán, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Isaac Ordonez will star as Gomez, Morticia, and Pugsley Addams, respectively. Previous Wednesday Addams actor Christina Ricci will also appear in an undisclosed role. However, viewers might not be getting the depiction of Wednesday that they’re accustomed to.
In an interview with Empire, Gough and Millar explain how Wednesday Addams will evolve in the series, particularly when it comes to her emotional life. The Addams’ daughter is notorious for being completely devoid of emotion, but as she’s separated from her family and their macabre lifestyle and thrust into boarding school, she will be challenged to form human connections. As the series progresses, her abhorrence for feeling comes down just a tiny bit. Check out their statement below (via CBR):
Gough: Wednesday Addams is such an iconic character. We thought, ‘What if you made her 16 years old and took her out of the family and put her in boarding school, so she has to make a new kind of family?’ We wanted to put her in a setting that still feels like you’re in the world of the Addams Family, but completely different.
Millar: The one thing that terrifies Wednesday Addams is emotion. What fascinated us as writers was exploring a character who starts out unable to have human connection and over the course of the first season moves that dial one notch. She sees the world in black and white. Maybe by the end of the first season she sees a touch of grey.
Wednesday Will Become More Emotive In Addams Family Show
The idea of Wednesday becoming more emotive in the Netflix series is an interesting departure from previous adaptions. In both the animated and live-action versions, Wednesday has a signature, impassive expression that rarely leaves her face. While becoming even the slightest bit emotive goes against prior portrayals of her, it certainly makes sense for a coming-of-age story like Wednesday. Wednesday isn’t just rehashing the Addams family, but trying to explore different scenarios, and it’s likely that Wednesday and Pugsley will learn to adapt to the world outside their home as they grow up.
Of course, Millar and Gough both assured viewers that Wednesday’s detachment will fall just a “notch.” It’s not as if her character is going to be entirely transformed. After all, one of the big draws of the Addams family is the fact that they are a bit different from the rest of society, but that they don’t mind being a bit off-kilter. However, Wednesday can certainly continue to enjoy her gothic nature and love for all things macabre, while also forming her own perspective of the world that isn’t exactly aligned with her family’s. Ultimately, the character becoming more emotive in Wednesday means viewers will likely see an intriguing and realistic evolution of the character as she begins to grow older and truly form her identity.
