The legacy of The Addams Family continues on Netflix with Wednesday, which has released a trailer that's teeming with "mystery, mayhem and murder."
After several months of surgically strategic hype, notably with a short teaser this past June, Netflix has finally unveiled the first full trailer for Wednesday. While, given what's traditionally known about the character, the clip contains a fair share of lovable sadism, the macabre machinations of Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) are depicted at peak levels here. Right off the bat, the show's premise is set with a scenario in which Wednesday -- who's clearly sick of going to school with pretentious jocks and their admirers -- orchestrates a plan to get expelled involving a swimming pool and bags of piranha, leaving the pool crimson-colored. With that, it's immediately discernable that the series is the product of the iconic director/executive producer Tim Burton.
With Wednesday having left an array of students maimed and exsanguinated, parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) send her to a special school called Nevermore Academy, whose Edgar Allen Poe-evocative name and Gothic aesthetics might be more to her liking. There, she attempts to adjust to life with an eclectic population of students and an eccentric headmistress Larissa Weems, played by The Sandman and Game of Thronesactor Gwendoline Christie. Of course, as a subsequent montage teases, things will nevertheless escalate to more torture, chaos and bloodshed.
The starring role on Wednesday represents another major upgrade to the young career of Ortega in a short period of time. The 19-year-old actor, previously known for recurring roles on TV shows such as Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle, The CW's Jane the Virgin and Netflix's You and Richie Rich, broke big earlier this year as the star of the Scream franchise revival movie. In this case, however, Ortega inherits a role with rich history, notably best remembered by this generation in the form of Christina Ricci's performance as Wednesday in the widely beloved 1990s The Addams Family movies.
Ortega seems to understand the challenges of being an inheritor of an iconic role. In this case, said challenges are rooted in the fact that Wednesday, for the first time (at least, officially,) is the central character of an Addams offering. Consequently, the role requires a more elaborate arc than predecessors like Ricci or even Lisa Loring, the original portrayer of the character on the 1960s sitcom. As Ortega recently explained of Wednesday's sinister idiosyncrasies, "Her humor or sass is entertaining and shocking when you're 10 years old. But, as you become a teenager it's less charming." She added of her approach, "I wanted to keep that likeability factor, and not let it become annoying, bratty or pretentious. I really hope to do her justice, because I know that she means a lot to people."
Wednesday premieres its eight-episode inaugural season on Netflix this fall.
Source: Netflix
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