Wednesday. (L to R) Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in episode 201 of Wednesday. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
Netflix’s Wednesday season 2 was one of the most anticipated releases of 2025 for the streamer, and the first four episodes did not disappoint. Following the release of Volume 1, series director Tim Burton, as well as star Jenna Ortega and other members of the cast and crew, weighed in on everything that happened.
Wednesday season 2 takes viewers on another weird and whimsical journey to Nevermore, the shadowy and macabre school for Outcasts. But this time, things are different. Not only is it the first time that Wednesday Addams has willingly returned to a school, but she’s now (very unwittingly) a local celebrity after saving the school in the previous term. The season marks the return of numerous series favourites, including Wednesday’s excitable roommate Enid (Emma Myers), Ajax (Georgie Farmer), and Bianca (Joy Sunday). In addition, there are several new faces, such as Bruno (Noah B. Taylor), new Nevermore principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), and music director Capri (Billie Piper).
In our 4-star review, we called Wednesday season 2 “as charming and dazzling as ever,” naming the series one of Netflix’s standout shows.
Note: These comments came from a press pack provided by Netflix.
Director Tim Burton discusses Wednesday season 2.
Wednesday. (L to R) Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Executive Producer/Director Tim Burton in episode 204 of Wednesday. Cr. Owen Behan/Netflix © 2025
Following the release of Volume 1, Netflix caught up with director Tim Burton. While one of the most esteemed filmmakers in the industry, Burton was compelled to take on the challenge of tacking a story where it moves from one year to the next, exploring how Wednesday would change in that time. “I’ve never done something where it’s one year then the next,” he said. “Wednesday’s a funny character because she’s very strong in who she is. Her level of growth is perhaps not immediately known to the visible eye. She is very specific, and she doesn’t move much.”
“The key element is keeping her true to herself while encountering new people, new situations. She’s still going to school — not her favorite thing, which I could relate to. She’s such a strong character that we try to find new nuances, but within a limited bandwidth. The show has always been about the characters at the heart of it and who Wednesday is. No matter what gets a little bit bigger this season, all those elements remain the same.”
Burton was particularly enthused by the arrival of new Nevermore principal Barry Dort, played by Steve Buscemi. He previously worked with Buscemi on Big Fish (2003). “I worked with Steve Buscemi many, many years ago, and I always wanted to again,” he explained. “It was such a pleasure to work with him on this because he brought something different. Weems was very much about trying to fit into things. Every new principal brings in their own agenda. They bring in their own kind of ‘Nevermore forever’ attitude. It was really fun to watch him and work in a form that’s different from a film.”
“He’s somebody who walks onto the set and you can see that there are more people on set that day — cast, crew, everybody. You can just sense when people love watching somebody work and respect somebody’s work. Same for me. I really enjoyed every day because it was fun and it was creative.”
Viewers may have also noticed that season 2 leans heavier into the dynamic between the Addams Family. This was a deliberate move, and the idea was to have an iteration of the iconic family that felt true to their predecessors, but was also more grounded in real family dramas.
“One of the most interesting things about Wednesday is the Addams family mythology. We’ve grounded that element of the story so that we could identify real family issues that happen in real life. Past iterations can skew more cartoony, and we’re bringing it back to real emotions, real feelings, real family issues. Obviously there’s the classic mother-daughter issue between Wednesday and her mother, Morticia, but we added to that this season by introducing Morticia’s mother and their dynamic.”
The whole mother-daughter dynamic — both between Morticia and Wednesday, and Morticia and Grandmama — are the key relationships that the season tackles “The dynamics between mothers and daughters over two generations were very interesting to explore. Kids always forget that their parents are actually human beings. What kids don’t often realize is that people change and evolve. And this idea of the whole Addams family being drawn back to school at this point in their lives is interesting, and it causes friction,” Burton explains.
Jenna Ortega talks Wednesday’s journey and her expanded role as a producer.
Wednesday. (L to R) Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Victor Dorobantu as Thing in episode 203 of Wednesday. Cr. Helen Sloan/Netflix © 2025
Not only is Jenna Ortega playing the titular Wednesday Addams again, but season 2 marks the first time that she’s taken on the role of producer. Working both in front of the camera and behind it has been an immense pleasure (and learning curve) for her. “It’s been a really amazing experience being a producer on Wednesday. Now that I’m familiar with the team and we all know each other and have worked together for so long, it’s definitely a comfortable, safe environment to ask questions and learn a bit more.”
Her role as a producer has meant she’s been able to take part in creative discussions. “I’ve learned so much this season, and it’s been so cool being a part of conversations, talking about the color of blood, or the color of prosthetics and if the brain isn’t big enough –– things like that that are quite silly, but really do make such a big difference on the show.Getting to see everyone’s costumes before they’re approved, stuff like that, is very fun.”
“To be able to learn from someone like Tim firsthand is a very special experience,” she added. “Also, because I saw them every day on set, it was easier for
them to just feed me knowledge in between takes and things like that, which was really informative.”
Having completed her first school term in season 1 — and saving the school in the process — Wednesday is a local celebrity in the halls of Nevermore. While her peers might have warmed to her, Wednesday herself hasn’t grown all that much. “There’s no real emotional growth being made here, which is the joke with her, because she doesn’t really grow emotionally,” Ortega explains. “She has moments of weakness here and there, and there’s always something with her mom, there’s always something with Enid (Emma Myers). Maybe because it’s a new environment for her, or Nevermore was a new environment for her in the first season, in the second season she’s gotten a little bit more comfortable.”
One of Jenna Ortega’s highlights from season 1 was working alongside newcomer Joanna Lumley, who plays Grandmama. While Wednesday cannot open up to anyone, she comes close with Grandmama. “They love each other,” she explains. “They both look at Morticia and roll their eyes a bit. They’re very alike, very hard, not very sensitive or open to things, love all things gothic and dark.”
As for working with Lumley, her experience was one of the most memorable of her career so far. “She is just the sweetest. Every time I saw her on set, and she called me ‘honey’ or ‘darling’ or ‘baby,’ I just melted. She’s got the sweetest voice and she’s hilarious. She might be the most professional person on set, just in the way that she carries herself and the way that she speaks and always knows her lines and always has good questions.”
Jenna Ortega teases Wednesday’s fate at the end of episode 4
The midseason finale ended with the show’s biggest cliffhanger to date. After being set free and killing Thornhill, Tyler sets his sight on Wednesday. In his Hyde form, he throws her out of a window several stories high. Despite suffering what appear to be immense injuries, Wednesday appears alive and conscious, but heavily bloodied and gravely injured. “I’ve always dreamed of looking death in the face,” Wednesday narrated. “But in my final moments, all I can hear is my mother’s words ringing in my ears. Maybe I have made everything worse. Much worse.”
Discussing this climactic moment, Ortega explained how it came about:
“It was chaos. The sets were wonderful, it was so great having Christina Ricci back, and I absolutely love that we didn’t see Tyler actually physically throw Wednesday out the window. That was Tim’s last-minute idea where you just see the tension between the two before it happens, and then what breaks the silence is the shattering of the glass. I thought that was a cool way to end that episode. Because we’ve taken so long to deliver the season — we’re so sorry — if you’re going to have a break in a season like that, it’s nice to leave on probably the darkest note that we’ve ever left on in an episode. I was excited to do that midway through the season.”
“When we were shooting it, we thought that it was really funny and interesting,” she concluded. “Tim and I were crying laughing. We had so much fun shooting that.”
Isaac Ordonez teases Pugsley’s story in Volume 2.
Wednesday. (L to R) Joonas Suotamo as Lurch, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, Isaac Ordonez aș Pugsley Addams, Thing, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams in episode 201 of Wednesday. Cr. Helen Sloan/Netflix © 2025
With season 2 expanding the of stories of all the Addams Family, there’s perhaps none more notable than Pugsley’s larger involvement. Pugsley has now entered his first year at Nevermore Academy. Becoming friends with Eugene, he quickly gets into wacky and dangerous situations of his own. For instance, when he hears a story about a former, long-dead student who replaced his heart with a mechanical, clockwork heart, Pugsley sets out to find him — and his electrokinesis allows him to restart the man’s clockwork heart. The man rises as a zombie, whom Pugsley names Slurp.
“Episode 4 was amazing and some crazy stuff happened — Tyler (Hunter Doohan) escaped confinement, Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci) died, Wednesday got thrown off a second-story building, the Avian was revealed, Slurp ate more people,” he said.
As for what lies ahead for Pugsley, the antics continue into volume 2. “Pugsley goes on a search party with some family,” Ordonez teased. “Let’s just say he finds what he’s searching for and it greatly affects the rest of the show.”
Marilyn Thornhill may one day return: “Never say never”
One of the big twists at the end of Volume 1 came when Tyler, freed by Marilyn Thornhill, morphed into his Hyde form and killed her. It seems like there’s no mistaking her fate. “Marilyn Thornhill is dead dead,” co-showruner Alfred Gough said.
At least, she’s very much dead in that moment. But this is a whacky fantasy show. Mortality is hardly permanent, which co-showrunner Miles Millar was keen to reiterate. “I will say in this show, no one is officially dead dead. There’s always a way,” he said, adding: “Christina [Ricci] is just an amazing person and actor, and she brings such value to the show, and the character’s so wonderful. Never say never.”
If this isn’t enough fuel for the fire of fan theories, I don’t know what is. As for Wednesday’s fate, she is alive, but not without scars. “Any normal human would be in traction for the next six years,” Millar said. “But if you look at the back of her head in Episode 5, she has a bunch of staples.”
Despite a fall that’d be lethal for many, Wednesday manages to escape relatively harm-free. “No broken bones,” Millar says.
Wednesday season 2, volume 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 drops on September 3.
Rating: TV-14
