Fans Praise Netflix’s Decision to Expand Wednesday Universe

Netflix has released the first look at Billie Piper on the set of Wednesday season 2, the new dark comedy about Wednesday Addams. 42-year-old Piper is set to join the second season of the show as Isadora Capri, head of music at Nevermore Academy.

Known for playing Brona Croft/The Bride of Frankenstein on Penny Dreadful, Piper has a long history of gothic and supernatural roles. Her character in the series is a former child prodigy with a specific interest in Wednesday Addams’ (Jenna Ortega) musical abilities, as well as werewolf student Enid Sinclair, played by Emma Myers.

Netflix released the first look at Billie Piper on Wednesday alongside other major announcements. The first season of the show first debuted on Netflix in November 2022 and quickly became a massive hit. Boasting 252 million viewers globally, it became the streamer’s most-watched English-language series of all time. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, and today, it has been confirmed that season 2 will release in August this year.

Wednesday follows the titular Wednesday Addams (22-year-old Jenna Ortega) in her first year at Nevermore Academy, a school for misfit supernatural children. Mixing horror, comedy, and teen drama, the first season became an immediate hit with audiences and critics and earned multiple Emmy nominations. As such, fans have been clamoring for a second season ever since.

Billie Piper Joins a Host of Notable Cast Members For Wednesday Season 2

Billie Piper is joining a cast that already includes some major names. Some of the other notable cast members in Wednesday season 2 include the likes of Lady Gaga, Steve Buscemi, and Thandiwe Newton, to name just a few. Returning cast members from the first season include Gwendoline Christie as headteacher Larissa Weems and Luis Guzmán as Wednesday’s father, Gomez Addams.

Joanna Lumley is also joining the cast in an unknown role. On joining the series, Lumley commented: “There’s always something thrilling about working for Tim Burton. His whole mind takes him to a different world, and the world that they’ve created here for Wednesday and Nevermore and the family is just intoxicating.”

As for Wednesday herself, the first look at Jenna Ortega on set was met with some backlash. In a since-deleted post, fans of the show commented that the actress did not “look” like Wednesday Addams and expressed their disappointment.

In other updates, Ortega herself has stepped up on the production side, gaining a producer credit for season 2. While this may have come about after some controversy around a podcast interview in which she complained that lines were often changed and she had to “put her foot down” over character inconsistencies, the 23-year-old actress has now joined the executive production team. Her comments were previously defended by Burton, who said she was misquoted and taken out of context. In the same interview, Alfred Gough (who co-created the series with his wife Leanna) also said it was only natural that Ortega would be involved in the production, given her input into every episode.

The director himself is also back on the set for the next season. Tim Burton, 66, is serving as an executive producer on the series and a director on some episodes. Burton and Ortega previously worked together on Beetlejuice, the sequel to the 1988 cult classic, which is due for release this year.

A third season has also been confirmed for Wednesday, which is almost certain to happen following the first season’s critical and commercial success. The series has been renewed for a third season, while a spin-off is also in active development. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Filming on the series is slated to wrap later this month, while work on the spin-off is expected to begin as early as next month.” While no specific details have been released as to the nature of the potential spin-off, Alfred Gough did tease, “It’s something we’re noodling; there are other characters we can look at.”

The announcement was greeted with applause by the fanbase on social media. Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays the role of Morticia Addams, also confirmed the third season on Instagram: “When Wednesday comes, a better day. Wednesday season three. It’s official…we shall return.” Fans of the show immediately flooded the comments with praise and emojis, including “And for many more seasons,” “I can’t wait to see the second season, I’m waiting for it with great curiosity…. and the third is already official, fantastic news!”

Some were a little more concerned with when season 2 might start filming, given it will have been nearly two years since the first season release. Fans were critical of how long season 2 was taking to come to fruition and are hoping that the wait between the second and third will be shorter this time. As it currently stands, despite being announced in January 2023, season 2 won’t even drop until August, and that’s not accounting for the time to film and edit the season. One fan said it best, writing, “I’ll be gripping the sheets in agony waiting, but please…… on’t let us wait three years again.”