Ever since news first broke that Tim Burton would be bringing his vision of the Addams Family universe to live-action on Netflix, fans have kept their fingers crossed (on disembodied hands) that the streaming series would in some way tie into the beloved ‘90s films from Barry Sonnenfeld. And now, the upcoming series Wednesday has done just that with the reveal that Christina Ricci has been cast, although we can’t currently speak to whether or not Issac Ordonez’s Pugsley needs to be doubly worried about his fate.
Having starred as Wednesday Addams in both 1991’s The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel The Addams Family Values, Christina Ricci is obviously the perfect O.G. cast member for Tim Burton’s Wednesday to lock down. But fans probably shouldn’t expect to see her donning the trademark pale skin and long dark braids for her introduction, as Deadline reports she won’t be portraying an older version of Jenna Ortega’s Latina take on Wednesday.
To that end, though, that’s about all we know of the character as far as specifics go. But it will apparently be more interesting than just “Random Soccer Mom #2,” though, because the details are being intentionally withheld in order to keep the reveal a surprise for viewers. That said, we already know that Catherine Zeta-Jones will be portraying Morticia Addams, with Luis Guzmán as her loving husband Gomez, so don’t expect her to take on the role of Morticia, either. (Unless it’s in a flashback…)
It does appear as if Christina Ricci was added to the cast to fill the void that was left when the previously cast Thora Birch exited the role mid-production. The new character is said to be similar to Birch's, though isn't meant to be a full-on replacement.
Even though Tim Burton's Wednesday is set to finish filming in Romania by the end of March 2022, that doesn't necessarily mean that Ricci's role will be a limited one. On the contrary, she has reportedly been filming the show on the DL for several weeks now.
The news of Christina Ricci's casting is pretty huge on multiple levels. First and foremost, it'll be amazing to see her once again within the world of the Addams, even if she's not directly related by...blood. Second, it wasn't long after the initial news broke about Wednesday that fans got a petition going to try and get the actress cast in the show. Which isn't at all how the casting process tends to work in any branch of entertainment, but now that it's come true in this case, one can only wonder how much of a precedent it will be. I mean, we might as well also petition for others like Christopher Lloyd, Anjelica Huston and Carel Struycken to return in some capacity.
Stay tuned for more info about Wednesday, while also awaiting Christina Ricci’s returning to the cast of the hit horror drama Yellowjackets for Season 2. And fans can also check out all the other big Netflix shows coming in later months.
