Netflix’s rollout for Wednesday, the story of the eldest Addams child’s time at Nevermore Academy, has been quite thorough. And while it momentarily seemed like another trailer—so quickly on the heels of our introduction to Nevermore!—might be overkill, I am quite pleased to report that it is, in fact, just the right amount of kill.
Which is to say it features the threat of smothering, some sort of homicidal monster, a touch of violence, an explosion or two, a dramatic spray of blood, and not one but two character reveals—including the first appearance of Christina Ricci, our beloved 1990s Wednesday. Whatever is she doing here?
Well, teaching, of course. Ricci’s Marilyn Thornhill is finally revealed to be one of the teachers at Nevermore, who welcomes Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) to the school with a lovely black plant.
The other surprise is the appearance of Uncle Fester, whose arrival puts a genuine grin on Wednesday’s face—the only time we see her with such an expression. Perfectly played by Christopher Lloyd in the Barry Sonnenfeld Addams Family movies, the role now belongs to Fred Armisen, who is an odd choice but maybe? possibly? a good one? The jury’s still out.
But the rest of this trailer finally masters the tone Wednesday deserves, and leans hard on Ortega’s viciously blank stare. There are a lot of good lines, but I think my favorite is “I act as if I don’t care if people dislike me. Deep down… I actually enjoy it.” (One can only assume that the appearance of fellow youths in pilgrim outfits is a nod to a memorable sequence from Addams Family Values.)
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) and directed by Tim Burton, Wednesday also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán as Morticia and Gomez Addams; Gwendoline Christie as Nevermore headmaster Larissa Weems; and Isaac Ordonez as Wednesday’s brother, Pugsley. It premieres November 23rd on Netflix.
