Wednesday Season 2: The New Cast & Why They Ditched Xavier
Remember how Wednesday Addams's creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky adventure on Netflix was getting a whole lot of drama outside of the show? Turns out, it wasn't just the haunted Nevermore Academy causing the mayhem, but also some real-life controversy around Percy Hynes White, who played the artsy and mysteriously captivating Xavier Thorpe in season 1. You might've heard whispers about it online, and it had to do with some serious allegations. While Hynes White denied those allegations, he wasn't part of Wednesday Season 2. So how'd they handle the awkward elephant in the room?
Well, Jenna Ortega, the girl who perfectly nailed that Wednesday stare and delivered a whole heap of amazing performances, gave us some insight. She admitted to Vanity Fair that it was "a weird redirect" for the show to lose such a major character. However, they definitely made a strategic choice – they ditched the drama, welcomed in some fresh faces and took the opportunity to explore other angles, moving Wednesday in a totally new direction. In a way, it's like that Wednesday we know and love – embrace the weird, move forward, and let's see what chaos unfolds next!
New Faces Joining the Addams Family: More Than Just "Fresh Faces"
While the showrunners, Miles Millar and Al Gough, aren't exactly spilling the beans about the exact plot for Wednesday Season 2, they let it slip to Netflix that their plan was all about bringing in "fresh faces." They wanted new characters who would totally shake things up and add more excitement to Wednesday’s journey at Nevermore. That's where a whole crew of interesting characters stepped in: Dr. Who's Billie Piper plays Capri, The Big Lebowski's Steve Buscemi pops up as Barry Dort, and Wednesday's hilarious and wickedly funny grandma, Grandmama Addams, is now played by Joanna Lumley.
Think there's a love triangle coming to a dramatic end in the series, too? That might be a thing. They definitely want to steer the show in a new direction. They've added Evie Templeton (from Return to Silent Hill) and Noah Taylor, a Law & Order alum, to the cast too! In addition to all the fresh faces in recurring roles, we get to see a guest star lineup like no other. It includes The Missing's Frances O’Connor, The Kominsky Method’s Haley Joel Osment, The Princess Diaries's Heather Matarazzo, Joonas Suotamowill (known for Star Wars), and the iconic Christopher Lloyd, the one and only Addams Family original cast member, who appears once again as Uncle Fester.
Goodbye Xavier, Hello More Addams Family Fun: It's Not a Problem, It's a Rewriting!
That long list of new cast members might sound kind of odd to you, especially when you think about how season 1 kinda teased out the connection between Xavier and Wednesday’s phone stalker. So wouldn't it have been a no-brainer to just replace Xavier? Maybe. But there are a few good reasons why the showrunners might have decided to scrap Xavier and embrace the new faces completely. It lets them fully move away from the real-world controversies around Hynes White and allows them to fully reimagine the world of Nevermore without feeling pressured to tie things back to the absent character.
It also eliminates the Wednesday, Xavier, and Tyler love triangle – something that, according to Jenna Ortega, was never truly the heart of what she had envisioned for Wednesday. And without the distraction of trying to awkwardly write in Xavier's absence or the whole "Who's the Stalker" storyline that dragged out for the entire first season, the writers can spend more time crafting interesting twists, focusing on Jenna's vision of Wednesday as the character we love and creating a much deeper connection between Wednesday and those amazing new faces!
Wednesday Season 2: Can They Top Season 1?
Remember those awesome dance moves Jenna Ortega showed us in the viral Addams Family number in season 1? We know Jenna has some seriously stellar dance moves. Can you picture what she has planned next? Wednesday season 2 is full of surprises, and Jenna herself said the new characters have brought something unexpected to the table. Let's just say, she doesn’t want fans thinking "I wish it was like Season 1. I wish we still had Tyler, I wish we still had Xavier" — instead, she's confident viewers will have totally different reactions. It sounds like the Wednesday team really pushed the envelope for Season 2.
It’s super-clear that they're going to use the freedom this whole shake-up brought about to write the next chapter in Nevermore’s history. We've already seen some intriguing plot details hinting at a bigger mystery. There are some major changes for the show and some serious buzz surrounding the next batch of episodes.
