Netflix’s hit series Wednesday is back with a vengeance, and this time, the beloved goth teen sleuth is more entangled in her family’s strange dynamics than ever before. Jenna Ortega reprises her role as the sardonic Wednesday Addams, now navigating a second year at Nevermore Academy while grappling with a deeper involvement from her peculiar parents, Gomez and Morticia.
The first four episodes of Season 2, released this week, set a bolder tone. Critics have already praised the improved storytelling and character development. “General confidence and watchability” are how TV critic Kelly Lawler summed up the opening of the new season, noting the series feels more assured compared to its freshman outing.
Ortega’s performance remains a defining element of the show. Her deadpan delivery and emotionally restrained presence continue to capture audiences around the world. But as the spotlight intensified after Season 1’s global success, Ortega admits the fame came with mixed emotions.
“Very overwhelming” is how she described her meteoric rise following the show’s 2022 debut. The first season became Netflix’s most-watched English-language series ever, launching Ortega from rising actress to global sensation. “I’m still very appreciative and grateful,” she said, reflecting on the unexpected scale of the series’ popularity.
“We didn’t know that anyone was going to watch the show. You do these things and you don’t know what’s to come, so it was very overwhelming.”
Jenna Ortega
Concerning whether she was ready for the attention, Ortega was candid: “Is anyone? No, I wasn’t.”
“I wouldn’t want to know someone who is. I don’t think that should ever be like a normal sort of [experience].”
Jenna Ortega
New Storylines Deepen Family Focus
In Season 2, Nevermore Academy gets a new principal, but what truly shakes things up is the stronger presence of Morticia and Gomez Addams, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán. Their on-campus involvement adds a new layer of tension and comedy, described by Netflix as “a rare new form of torture for a fiercely independent amateur sleuth.”
Ortega, 22, sees this added dynamic as an opportunity for richer storytelling. The show now delves more thoroughly into the Addams family’s unusual but deeply connected relationships.
“I think one of the reasons people resonate with the Addams family so much is their strangeness. They’re a very cohesive unit, but they’re also very different from one another and stand out. They shouldn’t fit [together] but they do. And that’s very relatable.”
Jenna Ortega
Among the key emotional arcs this season is the evolving relationship between Wednesday and Morticia. Zeta-Jones returns with a bigger role, one that Ortega was thrilled to see unfold. “Getting to see more” of the veteran actress, she says, is a gift to the audience.
“It’s very typical for mother and daughter to butt heads. And the daughter wanting to be her own person and feel that maybe she’s not being given the space she deserves or needs to come into her own. But also the mother’s desire to look after her children and be protective, and not wanting them to have to deal with the same hardships that they may have faced in the past.”
Jenna Ortega
These personal struggles hit close to home for Ortega, who admits that reading the scripts often reminded her of her own teenage years. “It’s very applicable to my experience as a teenager, and now.”
Also back this season is Emma Myers, who plays Wednesday’s colorful werewolf roommate Enid. Myers says her character has grown bolder since her freshman year. “She’s a bit more headstrong and she goes out and gets what she wants,” the Florida-born actress said in an interview. “I love to stay true to the original old Enid, but also just bringing in that subtle strength behind her as well.”
Myers, who is also known for her voice work in Minecraft, says fan reactions have been enthusiastic, and occasionally bizarre, with strangers shouting “Chicken jockey!” at her in public. Still, she embraces the attention and the chance to continue developing Enid’s quirky charm.
Ortega, meanwhile, is broadening her filmography beyond Wednesday, appearing in projects like Beetlejuice, Death of a Unicorn, and two Scream films. However, it is clear that this role, as Netflix’s most iconic gothic teen, has marked a defining moment in her career.
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