Wednesday Addams is the title character and protagonist of the Netflix television series Wednesday. Based on the character of the same name by Charles Addams, she is portrayed by Jenna Ortega. A psychic student at Nevermore Academy, Wednesday uses her powers to investigate murders and prevent foreseen deaths. Wednesday's macabre, antisocial personality hides her humanity and emotional growth, which eventually allow her to form connections. The character has also been briefly portrayed by several other actresses in the series, most notably Emma Myers.
Like they had done with Clark Kent in Smallville, writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar sought to explore and humanize an iconic character, envisioning Wednesday as a character study of the Addams Family's most popular member. Despite crafting their version of the character as a direct continuation of her 1991 and 1993 depictions, the series creators gave her several differentiations, including emotional complexity, the casting of a Latina actress, her age, and her appearance. Ortega exercised creative influence over the character, eventually becoming a producer. After being the focus of the first season partly due to budget constraints, Wednesday's presence was reduced in the second season, while her divisive romance angle was abandoned.
This iteration of Wednesday Addams has been called "media's first female Latinx detective" as well as a pop culture icon. Several journalists have considered her the best version of the character, while Digital Spy has ranked her among the greatest female television characters of the 21st century. However, several aspects of her adaptation have been criticized. Ortega's performance has received critical acclaim, while the role elevated her to greater fame. A subject of analysis, the character has been called "among the very first intersectional portrayals of an autistic-coded person in media".
Concept and creation
Background
The character that would eventually become known as Wednesday Addams was introduced in June 1940 in a single-panel comic created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. In 1944, the unnamed, young girl joined the rest of her "satirical and often quite macabre" family in her official debut in The New Yorker. The girl was characterized by her black dress, Peter Pan collar, pigtails, melancholy, and macabre nature, though the latter was the least noticeable of the family.
In 1962, for a licensed doll collection, the girl was one of the first members of her family to receive a name, Wednesday, inspired by a line from the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child". In 1964, Addams's comics were adapted into television, with the series The Addams Family. As its name suggests, the series gave the family its creator's surname, giving Wednesday her full name. Wednesday Addams, portrayed by Lisa Loring, was adapted into a normal child who contrasted with the rest of her family. A short-lived 1973 animated series also kept Wednesday's more normal disposition.
The character was changed drastically for the 1991 feature film, turning her into a "true goth icon". Wednesday, now portrayed by Christina Ricci, was adapted into a preadolescent, sarcastic, cold, homicidal character. In the 1993 sequel, Wednesday showed her potential as a main character for the first time, leading the film's subplot. The 1990s films revived interest in The Addams Family and Wednesday in particular, making her largely the main character of the franchise moving forward. At a time when grunge was culturally prominent, Wednesday became a "leading figure for the gothcore movement". Wednesday's personality in these films was kept in most future installments.
Adaptation
In 2018, after several years of showrunning abroad, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar returned to the United States, wanting to create another series similar to their work Smallville. Like Clark Kent, they sought a character with a life phase not yet depicted. Inspired by their love for the character and their parenthood of teenage daughters, they decided to explore "[what it would] be like to hang out with teenage Wednesday Addams". Once again humanizing a one-note, iconic character with emotional complexity, they envisioned the series as a character study; the first season in particular would heavily focus on the character, partly due to budget constraints. Originally wanting to make a prequel series for Miss Marple, Gough and Millar were influenced by this and other detective fiction such as Murder, She Wrote when designing Wednesday, making her a detective and crime writer. The showrunners created a character arc for Wednesday in the first season, evolving her capacity for human connection by "[moving] that dial one notch". Considering their Wednesday a direct continuation of her 1990s iteration, they were cautious against changing the character too much.
Gough, Millar, and director Tim Burton agreed that finding the right actress to play Wednesday was "the make-or-break of the show". They sought a Latina actress in honor of Gomez Addams's heritage. Auditioning hundreds of actresses, the creators considered Jenna Ortega perfect for the role immediately due to her appearance, attitude, and intelligence, casting her as Wednesday's title character in May 2021. Ortega considered it important to have her own different portrayal of the character, rather than doing a "knockoff" of Ricci's performance. Subsequently, she gave the character more social awkwardness and a more concealed confidence. She learned several skills for the role, including playing the cello, speaking German, fencing, archery, and canoeing. Burton and Ortega established the character's expression very early, namely her lack of blinking, use of the Kubrick stare, relaxation of facial muscles, and use of eyebrows to convey reaction. A lack of blinking was common in Burton's previous films; Ortega struggled to keep her eyes open in the Romanian winter, blinking during other actors' lines. Despite Wednesday's stoicism, Burton has commented on Ortega "[emoting] with her eyes", comparing it to silent film.
Ortega affected the character beyond her performance. She signed onto the series anticipating a dark tone but was surprised to read that the scripts were written for younger audiences. Not wanting to see a character that she respected change too much for a teen series, Ortega fought to "protect" Wednesday, later saying: "I don't think I've ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday." The actress simultaneously campaigned to make the character more three-dimensional, while also pushing against over-humanization that would "make her any other teenage girl". Considering much of Wednesday's characterization and storyline nonsensical, Ortega changed and cut many of her lines. Ortega ultimately had Burton's support on her vision for the character, though the two disagreed on the proper amount of emotion for Wednesday to show. Burton wanted Wednesday to be expressionless in the episodes he directed, while other episode directors also had their own visions for the character. Ortega felt that she did not always have others' trust in creating her character's emotional arc. There were "a lot of battles" on set regarding the character.
While not straying too far from Wednesday's established black-and-white look, Colleen Atwood's costume team nonetheless sought to modernize her wardrobe. They introduced Wednesday in her vintage dress as a tribute to past works and to establish her as an outsider in a contemporary world, but her transfer to Nevermore Academy "[opened the floodgates] for creativity". The vintage dress was replaced with clothes such as a custom school uniform, hoodies, and pants. Her casual looks were made to remain faithful to the character while also making her more relatable, with Atwood commenting that she "wanted Wednesday to be a person that, like the other kids, went out and did things". Burton also considered it important that the character look different from previous iterations, approving the bangs suggested by Ortega. To make her stand out, Wednesday was made the only character, including background extras, that ever wears the colors black or white.
Wanting to give Ortega some relief after she had appeared in nearly every scene of the first season, and now having the "freedom to really do the show [they] always wanted to do", Gough and Millar reduced Wednesday's presence in the second season as they expanded the scope of the series. After having unsuccessfully negotiated for the role before the first season, Ortega took on the additional role of executive producer, which made her feel "more empowered to speak [her] mind". Subsequently, the idea of Wednesday having a romantic interest was abandoned, after Ortega had previously criticized the first season's love triangle. Seeking to give Wednesday obstacles and a weakness, Gough and Millar made her relationships "treacherous" and took away her psychic ability. To explore the characters' social perceptions and highlight their specific cadences, Gough and Millar created an episode in which Wednesday swaps bodies with her roommate, Enid. Although Enid's actress, Emma Myers, had previously auditioned for the role of Wednesday, she did not use that experience when playing Wednesday and instead based her performance on Ortega, memorizing her costar's body language.
Character biography
Background
Wednesday Addams was born into a wealthy, eccentric New Jersey family. One day, when Wednesday was six years old, bullies ambushed her and killed her pet scorpion Nero in front of her. After burying and grieving her pet, Wednesday vowed to never cry again, assessing that her tears did not fix anything. Despite having perfect grades, her education was troubled; from ages ten to fifteen, she attended eight schools, ending with her current one, Nancy Reagan High School. An aspiring author, she wrote multiple mature, unpublished novels centered on the teen girl detective Viper de la Muerte, whom a therapist will later imply to be Wednesday's self-insert. At roughly age fourteen, she began having psychic visions but refused to tell her family.
Season 1
Wednesday is expelled from Nancy Reagan High School after mutilating her brother Pugsley's bully with piranhas. She transfers to her parents' alma mater, Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for "outcasts", outside Jericho, Vermont. Wednesday meets and forms tense or uncertain relationships with several people at her new school, including Principal Weems, werewolf roommate Enid Sinclair, and housemaster Marilyn Thornhill, as well as town resident Tyler Galpin. She also uncovers her spy, a sentient disembodied hand named Thing, and secures his allegiance. While attempting to escape from the school, Wednesday is nearly murdered by a classmate, who cites a prophecy that Wednesday will destroy Nevermore. To prevent her greatest fear of being responsible for something terrible, Wednesday decides to remain at the school to investigate the local murders and prophecy.
While doing so, she helps prove her father's innocence of murder, learns that she is a type of dark psychic known as a Raven, becomes romantically closer to Tyler, and admits to Enid that she is evolving as a person. Her uncle Fester informs her that the monster that she is looking for is a "Hyde", an enslaved person that can become a murderous monster at the whims of their master. Tyler and Thornhill are revealed as the Hyde and his master, respectively. Thornhill murders Weems and uses Wednesday to resurrect the genocidal colonist Joseph Crackstone to fulfill the prophecy of Nevermore's destruction. Thornhill, Tyler, and Crackstone are defeated by Wednesday and her allies. Having avoided emotional intimacy with her classmates until now, Wednesday shares a hug with Enid. While going home for the summer, Wednesday receives a threatening text message from an unknown stalker.
Season 2
Wednesday spends her summer mastering her psychic ability, using it to apprehend a serial killer. Willingly returning to a school for the first time, she receives a hero's welcome to Nevermore, much to her annoyance. Wednesday reunites with Enid, who she now considers a friend, but sees a premonition that she will be responsible for Enid's death. Wednesday begins an effort to save her roommate's life but loses her psychic ability. Enid is kidnapped and nearly killed by Wednesday's stalker from last year, Agnes DeMille, who begins assisting Wednesday's investigation. Wednesday's investigation leads her to a local asylum, where she accidentally frees Tyler, who defenestrates her and places her in a coma.
Wednesday is awakened from her coma by her new spirit guide, Weems. With the help of allies, Wednesday attempts to bring a threatening Tyler under her control, but the plan fails. Weems informs Wednesday that tension with her mother caused the loss of her psychic ability. A supernatural accident during Wednesday's investigation causes her to swap bodies with Enid; the two come into further conflict with Tyler's family but are able to return to their bodies. The premonition of Enid's death is resolved but replaced with a new premonition of an unknown Addams's death. Seeking to prevent this, Wednesday hunts Tyler's family. Enid informs Wednesday that, since she is an "alpha" werewolf, a transformation under a full moon will likely result in her becoming a werewolf permanently and being hunted. Wednesday agrees to rescue her if this occurs. After Wednesday helps defeat the nefarious school principal, Pugsley is kidnapped by Tyler's uncle Isaac. While attempting to save her brother, Wednesday is buried alive by Isaac. She is unearthed by Enid, who transformed under a full moon to save her. Enid flees. The Addams family rescues Pugsley and defeats Isaac. After connecting with her mother and beginning a journey to rescue Enid, Wednesday regains her psychic ability, seeing a vision of her missing aunt Ophelia.
Reception and impact
This iteration of Wednesday Addams has been received positively by viewers and several publications. According to a TV Time viewer poll, Wednesday was the most popular television character of 2022. Several journalists have considered her the best version of Wednesday Addams. Digital Spy's Janet Leigh has praised the character's depth, believing that it makes her more interesting than her previous iterations. HuffPost's Ian Kumamoto has praised the unexaggerated nuance of Wednesday's Latina identity. Some of the character's relationships have been received positively; Wednesday and Thing were nominated for the 2023 MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo, while Wednesday and Enid have been ranked by MovieWeb's Grace Amadi as the most heartwarming friendship in television. Wednesday has been ranked as one of the greatest Netflix characters of all time. Although Wednesday did not make her top-12 list, Collider's Christine Persaud mentioned the character when discussing the greatest television characters of the 2020s, while Digital Spy has ranked her as the 46th greatest female television character of the 21st century.
Several journalists and viewers have also offered criticism for the character. The Inquirer's Joseph Atilano has disagreed on the character being the superior iteration of Wednesday Addams, comparing her unfavorably to Christina Ricci's Wednesday and criticizing her reduced deadliness as well as her morality. Collider's Kylie Krabbe has derided the character's privilege as a betrayal of her intended subversiveness. Wednesday's love triangle in the first season was divisive according to Screen Rant, with Mashable's Belen Edwards adding that it "didn't feel true to the character", while Them's Abby Monteil has considered the queer icon's lack of a queer romance a "missed opportunity". Wednesday's rebelliousness against her mother has been controversial, according to Collider, with many viewers considering it a detraction from Addams Family tradition. Refinery29's Nicole Froio has derided Wednesday's Latina identity as a "quirk rather than an integrated part" of the character.
Jenna Ortega's performance as Wednesday has received critical acclaim. She has received several honors for the role, including two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy and an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Praising Ortega's performance as "absolutely magnetic", Game Rant's Crystal Martin has written that "nobody could've showcased Wednesday's morbid humor and emotional depth in a better way". Decider's Meghan O'Keefe has said that Ortega "is what makes Wednesday work", believing that the actress deserves all of the credit for the series's success. Although Ortega was already an established actress, Wednesday has been credited with greatly increasing her fame and making her a household name. Wednesday has been ranked as the best performance or role of Ortega's career. Emma Myers's brief performance as the character has also been received positively.
Cultural impact
"To their credit (the showrunners), what the Wednesday Netflix series accomplished with flying colors is to turn Wednesday Addams into something she was never before, and that is to achieve near pop culture iconic status for the last few years".
— Joseph Atilano, The Inquirer
The Daily Beast's Laura Bradley has written: "It's hard to overstate [this] Wednesday's influence." This iteration of Wednesday Addams has been considered a pop culture icon, while Times Now has called her a "Gen Z icon". L'Officiel has called her "a symbol of the new gothic renaissance" and "the embodiment of a zeitgeist in which dark aesthetics have become a form of self-expression for an entire generation". Called a "style icon" by L'Officiel, the character has been credited with a goth fashion revival and has been considered the poster girl for multiple 2020s aesthetics, including dark academia and tired girl. Game Rant's Alice Dodds has written that she has "become a champion for the queer community". Wednesday's dance became a cultural phenomenon; The Guardian's Janelle Zara has stated that the dance "may have single-handedly revived Gothic subculture for Gen Z". In 2025, this Wednesday was added as a skin to the video game Fortnite. Wednesday has been given much credit for the success of the series's first season, which remains the most-viewed English-language Netflix season of all time as of June 2026.
Shipping
Collider's Safwan Azeem has written: "Naturally, as is the case with any other teen-oriented show, Wednesday quickly garnered a large fandom, with fans [...] imagining which characters could end up together. Shipping has been a major part of the conversation around Wednesday." Wednesday appears in several of the series's fan-desired romantic pairings, known as "ships". Wednesday and Enid were reportedly "by far the most popular ship in the show" by the end of 2022, with its 7,700+ works on the fanfiction repository Archive of Our Own "far [outnumbering] any actual canon relationships in the show" as of August 2025. Given that Tyler is Wednesday's only canonical romantic interest, they are also one of the series's most popular ships. Although Wednesday and Xavier were "the ship that everyone was talking about when Wednesday premiered back in 2022", Xavier was written out of the series after the first season.
Analysis
Comparison to other Wednesdays
Screen Rant's Megan Hemenway has considered this Wednesday perhaps the most unique. Observing that she shares traits with all of her previous iterations, Collider's Elisa Guimarães has mused that "the show creates a cohesive narrative for its titular character that suggests that all those Wednesdays of the past are maybe just multiple facets of the same girl". CBR's Robert Vaux has written that Wednesday's genre difference compared to previous franchise entries has an effect on its title character by placing her in real danger for the first time, giving her vulnerability and audience sympathy. Literary Hub's Jess Hinds has suggested that "Ortega's version of Addams' character shows that life in America is getting better for women". Several writers for Screen Rant have opined that this Wednesday is a reflection of modern storytelling, with her age and detective work reflecting modern audiences' interest in teen series, mysteries, and true crime.
Neurodivergence
Camille Bassett and Jason Gilmore have written for Communication Monographs: "In the eyes of many Autistic individuals, Wednesday Addams – at the very least, this latest version of her – is clearly and profoundly coded as autistic." Although Wednesday has a long history of autistic coding, they have stated that "the 2022 Wednesday is more stereotypically autistic than ever before". Cited character traits belonging to this Wednesday that are associated with autism (stereotypically, exclusively, or otherwise) include her: monotone voice, flat affect, lack of blinking, difficulty with social cues, sensory preferences and hypersensitivity, dislike of physical touch, strict routines, hyperfixation, heightened attention to detail, honesty, black-and-white thinking, strong sense of justice, and savant abilities. Bassett and Gilmore have also observed that, unique among her classmates, Wednesday is a psychic, a power of the mind. They have written that her mind is "personified as a dark and mysterious place", that her psychic abilities are presented as savant-like, that autistic stereotypes often "[personify] the autistic mind as a place where the Autistic person can physically retreat into [and can hold] dangerous and extraordinary secrets", and that the potential of her psychic abilities causing insanity is in line with neurodivergent people being presented as crazy and dangerous.
Bassett and Gilmore have considered this coding significant given the rarity of autistic characters that are not white and male, calling Wednesday "among the very first intersectional portrayals of an autistic-coded person in media". Although they have highlighted the character's potential relatability to Autistic people, they have also argued that Wednesday's unconfirmed diagnosis and stereotypes "contribute to the symbolic annihilation of Autistic people in media". Digital Spy's Charli Clement has also pondered on Wednesday's representation of neurodivergence, noting how the character's fictionality and pretty privilege might make her more likely to be embraced than other neurodivergent people. As The Guardian's Janelle Zara has written, "fans discuss [whether the character is autistic-coded] and how much Wednesday's perfect bone structure excuses otherwise socially unacceptable behavior."
While describing sociopathy as "just a personality disorder" and comparing the character to Wicked's Elphaba and Dexter's Dexter Morgan, psychologist Patric Gagne has explained:
Wednesday Addams is sociopathic. She meets most of the criteria. She's criminally versatile, she has trouble making and forming bonds, she has a low affect, she is manipulative, she's cunning, she's extremely charming. And yet I believe that Wednesday Addams offers a much more complete version of the sociopathic profile. Because in addition to all of those quote on quote 'bad things,' she's also capable of experiencing grief. She struggles to form bonds, but she can do it. She's very loyal to her friends. She's very loving to her family members. And that piece of the puzzle is largely missing in the overall understanding of sociopathy. You see that she can feel, she feels deeply. She feels differently than a neurotypical person does. But that doesn't mean her feelings don't count.
Gender and femininity
Refinery29's Maggie Zhou has written that, for a new generation of viewers, Wednesday is "terrifying because she denies social attitudes when it comes to what is expected of girls". Bassett and Gilmore have observed that "Wednesday carries forward the feminist messaging of the female detective without any of the gender stereotypes often perpetuated through the detective genre, such as the female victim". However, several writers for Continuum have argued that Wednesday plays into the misogynistic trope that a woman can be either feminine or a genius, but not both. CNN's Ella Alexander has regarded Wednesday's hair and makeup in the second season, intentionally made to appear lacking in effort, as a "subversion of femininity". Her appearance has also been considered a subversion of 2020s beauty trends, with WWD's Kaleigh Werner calling Wednesday the "archetypal anti-clean girl".
Latinx identity
Bassett and Gilmore have considered Wednesday's Latinx identity significant, noting the rarity of Latinx characters in media and the normalcy in which that facet of the character's identity is portrayed. They have observed that Wednesday avoids the sexualized tropes common to female Latinx characters, while author Diana Leon-Boys has observed that the character avoids the "can-do Latina" archetype which emerged in the decade prior to Wednesday's release. The former have also written that "Wednesday's denunciation of whitewashing [... brings] to mind the whitewashing of Wednesday herself as a character, a level of meta-awareness that could suggest the show's intention to own up for and rectify this insensitive facet of all previous Addams Family iterations". Wednesday's family dynamics in the series have been connected to the character's Latinidad. CBR's Diane Darcy has opined that Wednesday's Latine identity enriches the theme of her being a social outcast, noting the racism experienced by the community in the United States. LatinaMedia.Co's Ces Heredia has commented that the character contrasts with societal expectations placed specifically on Latinas.
According to Refinery29's Nicole Froio, Latine fans have viewed the character's identity as an opportunity to depict the "culture's relationship with terror and the dead". PopSugar's Cristina Escobar has considered Wednesday an outlier, noting the near-absence of goth Latina characters in media. Connecting the character to the "broader Latinx relationship to Eurocentric goth and post-punk culture", Angie Bonilla has written for the Los Angeles Review of Books PubLab that Wednesday "'browns' the gothic, transforming it into an aesthetic of cultural presence, spectacle, and resistance".
Sexual and romantic orientation
Jezebel's Caitlin Cruz has written: "I happen to think Jenna Ortega's Wednesday Addams is straight, but apparently I'm in the minority." Fans have viewed Wednesday as a potential LGBTQ+ character. Wednesday "pretty much just [tolerating the] advances" of her male suitors has been cited as one reason for this interpretation. Due to their "long looks [and] intimate secrets", Wednesday's relationship with her roommate, Enid, has been interpreted as potentially romantic. Regarding a scene in which Xavier asks Wednesday about the gender of her hypothetical date, her deflective answer has been seen as a potential opening for the character being bisexual. Wednesday's dislike of physical affection, emotions, and romance has also led to an interpretation of her being aromantic asexual. Den of Geek's Brynna Arens has written that "queerness as a term can be used under that umbrella to refer to anything outside of what society deems 'normal.' [...] Based on this definition, Wednesday already operates in a queer state of being, so it would honestly make way more sense for her to not be straight."
Cruz has offered a different view, arguing that the character is straight but that her male suitors are simply uninteresting. Cruz has reminded her readers that Wednesday's status as a gay icon does not necessarily make her gay. Out's Mey Rude has acknowledged that Wednesday's canon romance and "flirtations" are only with male characters.
Authorship
Salon's Kelly McClure has called Wednesday a "perfect representative for writers and the writer's way of life", noting her obsession with her writing, love of books, solitude, artistic pride, and theatricality. McClure has found literature to be a prominent theme of the character in the second season, noting how Wednesday is awoken from her coma after a reading of Macbeth, among other examples. Musing on the series's dark academia aesthetic, several writers for Continuum have opined that "as an author, Wednesday occupies the most prized position within the dark academic universe and displays the values that define creativity in the historical periods from which the dark academia aesthetic draws inspiration." Specifically, these writers have argued that Wednesday embodies the values and ideals of a Romantic author, noting her originality, individuality, high regard for imagination, solitude, obsessiveness, and attitude towards violence. They have also suggested that Wednesday's status as an author invites viewers to write fanfiction for the series, often centering on Wednesday as a writer.
Angie Bonilla has written for the Los Angeles Review of Books PubLab: "[Wednesday] reconstructs the figure of the gothic writer — historically imagined as a tortured, melancholic man — into a defiant author of color whose morbidity signals not pathology but critique. [...] By positioning a young Latina writer at the symbolic center of an institution named after a central archetype of American gothic tradition, Wednesday stages a rewriting of literary inheritance from the margins." In a meta sense, Bonilla has connected Wednesday's authorship to her actress's self-authorship. Bonilla has argued that, much like how Wednesday writes to assert control over her life, Ortega uses her fashion as a political statement, with both "reclaiming gothic aesthetics as a site of Latina cultural resistance and narrative agency."
Other analysis
Defining "detective" as a hybrid stereotype, Bassett and Gilmore have dubbed Wednesday "media's first-ever female Latinx detective". Comparing her to Burton's previous characters, Collider's Kylie Krabbe has opined that "Wednesday's current position in her own show is more a sign of the times of what is deemed permissible as the other". The Guardian's Janelle Zara has observed that "Wednesday is both the underdog misfit and the hottest girl in school, the product of the unlikeliest of mergers", comparing the character to a Byronic hero and her narrative arc to "goth Emily in Paris". Inverse's Dais Johnston has observed Wednesday's character change in the second half of the first season, which "allows her to grow from an amusing side character into a protagonist in her own right."