Wednesday season 2: everything to know about the smash Netflix series

Wednesday season 1 spoilers below

Ever since the January announcement that a second season of Netflix’s smash series Wednesday was in the works, fans have been on tenterhooks waiting for even the smallest morsels of information about the upcoming series.

So far, there’s been little in the way of information: the latest offering was a June video where fans were treated to the news that “Wednesday season 2 is on the way” via the show’s official Twitter. The post included a clip of cast members discussing fan theories about the upcoming series.

“The storyline is so top secret, even we don’t know what will happen,” the cast members say in the video, before musing on potential plot lines.

While so much about season 2 remains under wraps, here’s everything we do know so far about Wednesday and the show’s second chapter.

News of a second season came quickly

The Addams Family spin-off, Wednesday, crossed the 1 billion viewing hours mark in its first 28 days in December, a feat only ever reached by Squid Game and Stranger Things season four.

This meant that it was inevitable that Netflix would renew the show for a second season. And indeed, just over a month later, Netflix announced that the show had been renewed with a video clip.

In the one-minute announcement, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) said, “Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hunted, haunted, and mimicked millions of times across the internet. It’s been pure torture... Thank you.”

Then the video showed a series of clips of the show, intertwined with some of its popularity worldwide, such as crowds of people dressed as Wednesday and group viewings in cinemas. “The global phenomenon will return,” the video teased.

Fans were thrilled: “Wednesday season 2 let’s gooooo,” Tweeted one fan. “OMG there’s going to be wednesday season 2!!!! ahhhhhh,” said another.

What’s the show about?

Wednesday is a show based on the character Wednesday Addams, who was created by cartoonist Charles Addams 90 years ago. His 150 Addams Family comics were originally published by The New Yorker between 1938 and 1988.

The story of the barmy family has been adapted for the screen multiple times, including into a 1964 TV series, a 1973 cartoon series, and a series of Nineties films.

Wednesday is the latest reimagining of the strange family’s story for the screen: this time the show focuses on death-obsessed daughter Wednesday, who is now a teen, as she navigates life as a student at a high school and tries to solve a series of murders.

Where will season 2 pick up?

At the end of season 1, after an absolute tonne of drama including a revelation of a secret identity, a series of murders, and a confrontation with a 16th century Puritan who has been brought back from the dead, Wednesday, who was travelling home for the summer break, received a text.

She didn’t recognise the number, and concerningly, the message contained a knife GIF plus photos of Wednesday. It left the series on a major cliffhanger: who is the anonymous sender? And do they mean Wednesday real harm?

Naturally, the scene has spawned a thousand fan theories.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” said Ortega, speaking to Digital Spy about the cliffhanger. “I’ve gotten that question a couple of times now and I’m so confused… I don’t know.

“Maybe there’s another member of the Gates family that’s still alive. Or maybe it has no correlation whatsoever. I’m not sure. But I didn’t even question it on the set. I just did it. So I’m curious to know.”

The showrunners reveal some of their ideas, without revealing anything

While there’s no official logline about the second season, the show’s creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar discussed possible future plot lines with The Hollywood reporter back in December.

Gough said: “For us, the show also is really about this female friendship, with Wednesday and Enid [Emma Myers] really being at the centre of that. The fact that they really connected with audiences, it has been really gratifying. So, we’re excited to explore now that Wednesday’s dipped her toe into the friendship pool, what’s that gonna look like?

“Then, the other thing that’s really interesting is to continue to explore the Wednesday-Morticia mother-daughter relationship as well... How is their relationship going to evolve?”

When asked about whether romance is in Wednesday’s future, Millar said they were “open to everything” but that “sisterhood is key to the show”.

They also hinted that season 2 might not be the last Wednesday series, either: “The beauty of television is you could go on for many seasons, which we’ve done before,” said Gough, who worked on The CW’s Smallville. “What’s also fun is the more you go, the world and the stories kind of reveal themselves.”

When will season 2 be released?

At this point there’s no official release date, nor any real inkling of when the show might be released. But given that the show was only renewed in January, it’s likely that part two won’t be landing on the platform until this time next year – at the earliest.

Who is behind Wednesday?

The eight-episode show was directed by Tim Burton, who is known for his award-winning imaginative and spooky flicks. His past work includes Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Dark Shadows (2012).

“I particularly love Wednesday because she shares my worldview on things. And that was fun to explore,” Burton said in a Netflix featurette.

“Wednesday goes to a school of outcasts, but she’s an outcast among outcasts. That’s kind of how I felt,” said Burton at Italy’s Lucca Comics and Games conference last October. “This project really spoke to me. It’s exactly how I felt about school, my parents, other people. So, even though she’s at a place for people like her, she doesn’t like to join the party.”

Who is in the cast of Wednesday?

The cast of Wednesday includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Morticia Addams and Gwendoline Christie who plays Larissa Weems, the head teacher of Wednesday’s new school, Nevermore Academy.

Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday Addams in the 1991 comedy film The Addams Family, stars as a botany teacher at the school, Riki Lindhome (Pan Am, Yellowjackets) plays Wednesday’s therapist, Luis Guzmán (Code Black) plays Wednesday’s father, and Fred Armisen (What We Do in the Shadows) plays Wednesday’s uncle.

Jamie McShane (The Lincoln Lawyer), Hunter Doohan (Your Honor), Percy Hynes White (Between) and Tommie Earl Jenkins (Pandora) also star.

The show was a major hit

According to Netflix, Wednesday has been seen by as many as 182 million households and is the platform’s second most popular (English) TV show, with 1.237 billion viewing hours.

Even its soundtrack was incredibly popular, reaching number one on iTunes’ Soundtrack chart: it stayed in a top ten spot for three weeks.

The Wednesday mayhem doesn’t stop there either, as the fictional character Wednesday Addams has over one million followers on Spotify, while the TikTok hashtag #WednesdayAddams has over 31.2 billion views.

“It’s been incredible to create a show that has connected with people across the world,” said Gough and Millar on Netflix’s show site Tudum. “Thrilled to continue Wednesday’s tortuous journey into season two. We can’t wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky spooky world of Nevermore.”

What did the critics say?

On the whole reviewers praised the show: “Wednesday, to put it simply, is very, very good,” said Esquire, while the Guardian described it as “perfect”.

“Wednesday is not like the films you remember, but Burton’s defiantly uncheesy take on the high school genre sees him on top form,” said The Standard. “Ortega’s turn as everyone’s favourite teenage psychopath is sure to put her on the map.”

Wednesday season 1 is currently available to stream on Netflix