Credit: NetflixNetflix’s Wednesday has become one of the biggest shows to hit the streaming platform ever, but ever since season 1 came to an end, there have been multiple rumors and controversies which have surfaced. Some of these have led Netflix to either fire the cast or, in one instance, have a cast member walk off of the set prior to filming’s end.
Today, we will take a look at all of the issues that have popped up, surrounding the Tim Burton show now that season two is around the corner.
If you’ve ever tuned into The Addams Family, then the character Wednesday Addams, the oddball daughter of Morticia Addams and Gomez Addams, is likely familiar to you. This dark and braided character takes center stage in the television drama series titled Wednesday.
Christina Ricci’s portrayal of the character, predating the Netflix series, was likely the version of Wednesday Addams that most fans of the story would have recognized. However, since her introduction in the 1964 original series, several other actresses have taken on the role of Wednesday, including Lisa Loring, Noelle Von Sonn, Nicole Fugere, Krysta Rodriguez, Rachel Potter, Lauren Revere, Melissa Hunter, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Cindy Henderson, Debi Derryberry, and Chloë Grace Moretz.
Now, Jenna Ortega has become synonymous with the character.
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the series boasts a talented ensemble cast. Below is a list of the main cast:
- Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams
- Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams
- Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams
- Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair
- Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin
- Riki Lindhome as Dr. Valerie Kinbott
- Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay
- Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems
- Thora Birch as Tamara Novak
- Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin
- Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe
The storyline revolves around Wednesday’s quest to unravel the mysteries surrounding the monsters in her school, as well as evil demons that lurk in regions beyond. While watching the show, Wednesday turns into a sort of anti-hero, as she is constantly saving lives, while her exterior and cold demeanour paint her as a villain.
In the opening episode, Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe; we witness Wednesday as a high school student with her younger brother, Pugsley Addams (Isaac Ordonez), who faces regular bullying. Rather than accepting this mistreatment, Wednesday takes sadistic revenge, orchestrating her expulsion from school. (And yes, piranhas are involved).
Undeterred by their daughter’s actions, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) decide to enrol her in Nevermore Academy, a school known for accommodating social outcasts. Despite feeling out of place and yearning for an escape, Wednesday’s attempts are consistently shut down. Overtime, Wednesday is able to slowly make friends while discovering there is a greater, far more evil issue with the town of Jericho.
Once Wednesday discovers her psychic abilities, she, through her descendants, becomes the one who has to face Joseph Crackstone, a man whom the town idolizes from years ago, but also, a man who burnt many to the ground for their “possible” supernatural gifts. Funny enough Ricci, the original Wednesday, also serves as a villain, while she is the controller of the Hyde, the vicious creature who has been responsible for a string of murders in the town.
Season 2 of Netflix’s Wednesday
Season 2 of Netflix’s Wednesday will begin shooting in April. The shooting location will be in Ireland, however there is no release date available yet. The now-concluded strike certainly pushed back the project by a few months, but Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos has been steadfast in his decision to now prioritize the show now that Hollywood is returning to a much more normal state, and filming is back on track for shows and films across the board.
This decision was not too hard to believe, as, according to Movie Web, Wednesday is now the most popular English-speaking show on the platform.
The publication shared, “Officially, Wednesday is now the most popular English-language series of all time on Netflix. The feat is made more impressive when considering the show overtook Stranger Things 4, which had the edge with a longer runtime of 13 hours. Wednesday reportedly garnered 252.1 million views compared to 140.7 million views for Stranger Things 4. Rounding out the top five most popular English-language shows on Netflix are Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story at 115.6 million views; Bridgerton season 1 at 113.3 million views; and The Queen’s Gambit at 112.8 million views.”
Meanwhile, Squid Game is still the most popular series on Netflix overall, listed with 265.2 million views.
Regarding the plot of season two, there are a few things we do know about the season.
“We can’t wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky, spooky world of Nevermore,” Wednesday Season 1 co-showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough exclusively told Tudum in January 2023. “We just need to make sure Wednesday hasn’t emptied the pool first.” A recollection of the first notorious actions we saw Wednesday take part in during the first episode of the show.
According to Netflix, the second season will have more torture and darkness to it.
“It’s been incredible to create a show that’s connected with people across the world,” Millar and Gough said in January. “We’re thrilled to continue Wednesday’s torturous journey into Season 2.”
The biggest news that we currently know about the second season is that a new member of the Addams family will be joining the cast.
Netflix Writes Wednesday Lead Out of Show
As we shared originally, while the show has been incredibly successful, it has also hit a few road bumps between season one and two. One of the most devastating controversies came from Netflix decided to write off Percy Hynes White, the actor who plays Xavier Thorpe. White’s character is a psychic, as well as a lonely artist, which is a character that parallels that of Wednesday’s quite well.
At one point, he is mistaken by Wednesday to be the murderous Hyde, but in the end, he and Wednesday work together with the others to save Nevermore. From the moment that Xavier and Wednesday meet, their disdain for one another spoke volumes to the chemistry that viewers were able to see. It was the classic trope of being mean to the person you actually like, giving a youthful and relatable sweetness to the show’s storylines.
By the end of the season, the two exchanged numbers, and it felt as if we were witnessing the start of Wednesday’s “end game” match.
Then, it was announced that Percy would be written off the show.
The Daily Mail originally broke the news, “Emmy-award nominee Percy Hynes White has been written out of the Netflix smash hit Wednesday, nine months after he was accused of assaulting a woman at a party in Toronto”.
While the allegations are simply just that, allegations, it seems that Netflix took them seriously.
The Daily Mail continued, “The poster claimed she had been sexually assaulted by the actor at a party he was hosting and accused him of throwing the bash with the intention of getting women drunk enough to get them to have sex with him.
‘Percy is wonderful young man, that’s the truth,’ an insider told DailyMail.com. ‘He never took part in any of the false claims again him, which were on Twitter and never followed up or substantiated.
‘Percy is respectful, gracious, talented actor, a true professional. He’s unfailingly polite to all, including the crew and his fans, most of whom are loyal to him as they should be. ‘For Netflix to drop him from the show is a disgrace. It was just false rumors. It’s just not right.’ Netflix is claiming that because of the strikes now besetting Hollywood, no decision on casting has been made.
Hynes White and his parents, both of whom are actors and writers, have strongly denied the allegations with Hynes White describing it as a ‘campaign of misinformation’ in an impassioned Instagram post in June. He wrote: ‘Earlier this year, somebody I’ve never met started a campaign of misinformation about me online.”
Considering the original poster has withdrawn their allegations via deleting the Tweet, fans of the show may be hoping to see these reports be reversed.
Wednesday Actor Walks Off Set
Another actor in the show also encountered issues with the series, having actually felt the need to walk off the set before she was done filming for her role.
Actor Thora Birch (Hocus Pocus) was cast as Wednesday’s dorm mother Tamara Novak initially. However, the role was overtaken by former Wednesday Addams actor, Ricci after Birch walked off set. Ricci’s role was actually an all-new name and title, while she served a similar purpose.
A representative for MGM, who produces the series, told Deadline at the time: “Thora has returned to the States to attend to a personal matter and will not be returning to the production.”
According to sources who spoke to the outlet, Birch has had to go home to deal with an illness in the family. It was also reported that, while Birch didn’t complete her scenes, she had “finished filming the bulk” of the role.
While that was her initial excuse, she then stated In October 2022: “That became such a fluid, moving situation artistically, creatively from episode to episode. I had filmed a certain amount, and there were some questions about how much more to go with that character. There were just some changes and adjustments made. It didn’t work out that I would be able to go back, so they are finding their own solutions.”
Jenna Ortega Netflix Drama
Jenna Ortega, who has recently made headlines regarding her departure from the Scream franchise, has also made some headlines on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, many were shocked to hear that Ortega would change lines within the show.
Us Weekly wrote: “The script supervisor thought that I was, like, going with something, and then I would have to sit down with the writers, and they would be like, ‘Wait, what happened to this scene?’ And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things,” the actress said on the “Armchair Expert” podcast at the time. “I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down on a set in the way that I had to on Wednesday.”
She added: “Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all. Her being in a love triangle made no sense. There was a line about a dress that she has to wear for a school dance and she said, ‘Oh, my God, I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that, I literally hate myself.’ And I had to go, ‘No.’”
During The Hollywood Reporter’s Comedy Actress Roundtable in June 2023, Ortega defended that decision.
“When I went into Wednesday, I really put my foot down and made it clear that everything that I had to say mattered and was heard,” she shared. “I’ve had experiences in TV where I felt my voice wasn’t heard, that I was meant to be a puppet. I’ve been told on sets, ‘You wouldn’t know because you’re not a writer,’ or, ‘Just shut up and do your job.’ From 12 years old, I’ve been hearing things like that.”
Now, Ortega is an executive producer in season 2.
During filming, Ortega, likely unintentionally, gave the media some headlines to write about regarding her bout with COVID while on set. “It’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID, so it was awful to film,” she told NME in December 2022 about the show’s dance sequence which later went viral. “I never get sick and when I do it’s not very bad — I had the body aches. I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my oesophagus. They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result.”
This had many wondering if the set conditions were safe for other actors, but of course, Netflix took all proper precautions.
Lately, Ortega’s alleged salary has hit the media. Reportedly, the actress made a total of $240,000 for season one of Wednesday, but now, in season two, she is to make $250,000 per episode.
Additionally, “composer Danny Elfman and close friend to Tim Burton has also had controversial headlines as Elfman was sued for breach of contract for allegedly failing to make settlement payments due to a sexual harassment accusation”, as noted by Us Weekly. Rolling Stone reported at the time that Elfman allegedly sexually harassed Grammy-nominated pianist Nomi Abadi in 2015 and 2016.
This all being said, Wednesday season two is certainly one of the most anticipated series to return by fans, and even with some controversy surrounding the show, its success will certainly shine brighter.
What do you think about all of the drama surrounding Wednesday?