Picture: Netflix
After becoming Netflix’s most successful English-language show of all time, Wednesday will return for a second season on the platform. Here’s everything we know about Season 2 of Wednesday, including the latest reports on when the show will resume production, which is expected to be in early 2024. We’ll also cover what to expect from the story, who’s returning, and an analysis of the show’s success.
Wednesday was one of the most anticipated Netflix shows of 2022, with all eight episodes released globally on Netflix on November 23rd, 2022.
Since its debut, it has become one of Netflix’s most-watched titles of all time and has earned 12 Emmy nominations. These nominations include Best Overall Comedy Series, Jenna Ortega for Lead Actress, and Tim Burton for Directing. Only DAHMER and BEEF have scored more nominations from Netflix’s roster.
Warning: This preview of the second season contains spoilers. Below are quick links to help you find out what we know so far. This article was last updated in January 2024 and was first published in October 2022.
When was Wednesday renewed for season 2?
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Renewed on January 6th, 2023
Wednesday exceeded all expectations and is proving to be one of the most successful Originals on Netflix in its history, not just one of the biggest of 2022.
On January 6th, Netflix confirmed the show would return for a second season, although Netflix did not provide an estimate of how many episodes season 2 would consist of.
By that point, however, it had been an open secret that the show had been renewed, with a writer’s room reportedly opened and numerous teases over the Christmas period.
“It’s been incredible to create a show that has connected with people across the world,” said Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the two showrunners of the series, adding that they’re “Thrilled to continue Wednesday’s tortuous journey into season two. We can’t wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky spooky world of Nevermore. Just need to make sure Wednesday hasn’t emptied the pool first.”
How well did Wednesday Season 1 perform on Netflix?
As you may have heard, Wednesday, in pretty quick succession, became one of Netflix’s biggest shows in its history.
Before Summer 2023, Netflix ranked its titles based on its first 28 days on the service. Using that system, Wednesday was the second biggest English language show in its history, with only Stranger Things season 4 ranking higher.
Netflix has since changed its top 10 list to 91 days, where Wednesday holds the record at 1,718,800,000 (1.72B) hours watched, equating to 252,100,000 (252M) completed viewing equivalents.
Netflix’s top 10 all-time English TV list (28-day metric)
It’s ranked 20 weeks in the global Netflix top 10s, clocking in 1.806 billion hours of watch time in those 20 weeks. It also ranked 14 weeks in the Nielsen top 10s (which tracks US-connected device viewing), picking up 412.08 million hours watched.
Per Netflix, here are some of the other records the show managed to break:
“The series broke the record for the most hours viewed in a week for an English-language TV series on Netflix – not once, but twice – when it debuted in the #1 spot with a record breaking 341.23M hours viewed, and again in its second week with a staggering 411.29M hours viewed.
To date, Wednesday has had six consecutive weeks with over 100+M hours viewed on the English TV List — another record!
On TikTok, #WednesdayAddams has amassed over 22 Billion views
The Wednesday soundtrack reached #1 on the iTunes Soundtrack chart where it remained in the Top 10 for three weeks. Wednesday Addams, the artist, now has over 1 Million followers on Spotify.
On Spotify, “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps saw a streaming increase of more than 9.5K% compared to the month prior to the series release.
Wednesday’s iconic dance scene has gone massively viral across global social media. Fan generated content utilizing “Bloody Mary” by Lady Gaga led to a streaming increase of more than 1,800% of the song on Spotify compared to the month prior the series release. Even Lady Gaga joined in on the fun.
With over 80 Million views and counting, fans can’t get enough of the cast’s reaction to the iconic dance scene video.”
What to expect from Wednesday Season 2
First and foremost, let’s look at what showrunners have teased for the show’s future. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, they’ve said:
“For us, the show also is really about this female friendship, with Wednesday and Enid really being at the center of that. The fact that they really connected with audiences, it has been really gratifying. So, we’re excited to explore now that Wednesday’s dipped her toe into the friendship pool, what’s that gonna look like?”
Numerous sources suggest a major new character will appear in Wednesday season 2. Amongst the speculation as to who that could be is Cousin Itt, Purbert, Grandma Addams, or Mama.
Jenna Ortega spoke to Variety in June 2023 and gave them some insight into the new season and what we can expect from the tone where she said:
“It’s still coming together, but we’ve decided we want to lean into the horror more. We’re ditching any romantic love interest, which is really great. We’re going to get bolder, more dark. I’ve never had to do a serious period piece before. Was there anything you have to do to make sure things are accurate?”
Jenna Ortega attends The 2023 Met Gala – Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
At Netflix TUDUM in Brazil in June 2023, Jenna Ortega and some of the other cast were part of the live stream in a small video where she addressed theories for season 2:
Now, let’s move on to the lingering questions and story threads for season 2:
Who is Wednesday’s stalker?
Immediately after switching on the phone, Xavier had bought her, Wednesday was sent some ominous messages as she gleefully realized she had acquired her first stalker.
We already know that Wednesday had a limited online presence thanks to her negative stance towards social media. But considering Xavier is the one to give her a brand new phone, it’s impressive a stalker was already able to send her messages. But thanks to her antics, it’s no surprise Wednesday has picked up lots of attention.
Xavier will hope to be more than just a friend to Wednesday next season – picture. Netflix
What will Tyler do next?
We last saw Tyler in chains, being transported to what would have been a maximum security prison or psychiatric ward. However, before the transport could make its journey, Tyler transformed into his Hyde form, leading the audience to assume he had killed all of the armed guards.
With Tyler on the loose and without his master, will he be more dangerous? Or will he try to redeem himself so he can return to Jehrico?
Will Tyler wreak havoc on the students of Nevermore again? – picture. Netflix
Who will be the next Principal of Nevermore?
With the death of Larissa Weems, Nevermore Academy has been left without a principal. There’s also an extremely limited pool of candidates that could take the job.
The showrunners have teased that closing the school has given them a broad canvas for season 2, telling THR, “The school was closed when they left, which gave us the most possibilities for season two, and I think that’s something that we’re excited to explore.”
The most obvious choice would be for Morticia Addams, Wednesday’s mother, to be offered the job. As a former Nevermore student and a Nightshades member, Morticia would be the most competent person to take over. However, Wednesday would do everything within her power to remove her mother as principal, with hilarious and likely disastrous results.
If Morticia is given the job of principal of Nevermore, this would require Catherine Zeta-Jones to be bumped up to a series regular.
Wednesday would be less than delighted to see her mother become the principal of Nevermore – picture. Netflix
What will happen to Laurel?
With her true identity revealed, Laurel was able to resurrect Jeremiah Crackstone, but thanks to Wednesday, he was defeated. It was also revealed that she was the master of Tyler, as she manipulated the teenager into transforming into a hyde.
Laurel’s plans have been thwarted for now, but if Tyler comes to the rescue of his master, the duo could have more nefarious plans for Nevermore and the outcasts.
Marilyn aka Laurel was pretending to be Wednesday’s ally all along – picture. Netflix
Will Pugsley join Nevermore?
It’s unclear what the age difference is between Pugsley and Wednesday. However, we do know that they both attended the same high school together before Wednesday’s transfer to Nevermore. The whole family could move with her if Morticia is offered the principal position at Nevermore. Wednesday’s reaction would be priceless as she would naturally do everything within her power to stop him from trying to hang out with her.
The only one who is allowed to bully Pugsley is Wednesday. picture. Netflix
Who are the cast members of Wednesday season 2?
We could expect the following cast members to reprise their roles in the second season of Wednesday:
- Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams
- Riki Lindhome as Dr. Valeria Kinbott
- Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin
- Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin
- Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe
- Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair
- Moosa Mostafa as Eugene Otinger
- Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay
- Georgie Farmer as Ajax Petropolus
- Naomi J. Ogawa as Yoko Tanaka
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams
- Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams
- Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester
- Victor Dorobantu as Thing
- George Burcea as Lurch
- Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams
We understand that Gwendoline Christie and Percy Hynes White will not return for the second season. One for the reasons outlined above and the other due to ongoing investigations into sexual assault allegations.
While it seems Gwendoline Christie’s character of Larissa Weems died of Nightshade poisoning, there’s always a chance that the character could return in some capacity through flashbacks. However, our understanding is that she won’t return in any form.
Christina Ricci’s character of Marylin Thornhill, aka Laurel, was defeated, but we don’t know her ultimate fate. Which means the actress could return to reprise her role.
We should note that The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Jenna Ortega has stepped up beyond an acting role and will also serve as a producer in the new season.
In December 2023, we reported that Netflix was casting for three new season regulars for the second season of Wednesday. They include:
- Karloff is the first character we understand is being cast for the new season. The character is described as a young, athletic male teen with the actor having to wear prosthetics.
- Wolfgang is the next character we’re hearing that’s going to feature in season 2. Also a male teen, the character is described as charming and confident.
- Annie, a young girl aged between 12 and 14, is described as whip-smart and wise beyond her years.
In January 2024, we learned of a few more roles for the new season but most pertinently:
- Bruno – Hispanic/Latino teen character who’s a new love interest in the show. Described as having a smoldering look.
- Theater Music Teacher – New member of the Nevermore staff.
- Freshman
When will Wednesday Season 2 Begin Production?
Because of the dual Hollywood strikes, production has yet to get underway on Wednesday season 2. Below, we’ll look through the complete timeline of events, but the long and short of it is that current reporting suggests that filming will get underway on the second season in April 2024.
Prep for season 2 of Wednesday began early in 2023, according to an interview with Glamour magazine with Jenna Ortega, who told them:
“We are starting to prep season two of Wednesday, which…has been exciting. Just developing new storylines and seeing where characters are going. Starting those conversations has been really, really fun. I think it’s going to be bigger and better, which is cool.”
Production listings for the show’s second season stated throughout early 2023 that the show was aiming for a fall 2023 production start date (some just said by the end of 2023), meaning it won’t get into filming until September 2023. During a Formula 1 grid walk on Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle spoke to Michael Douglass and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who confirmed that filming was going to begin in the Fall of 2023.
Subsequent production listings have stated that filming will begin in October 2023 in Romania under the codename PILGRIM. Reports suggest season 2 will cost between $5 and $7 million an episode.
The WGA (writers) were on strike between May and September 2023, meaning no scripts have been worked on between those dates. Following the end of the writer’s strike in late September, Variety reported that work on Wednesday season 2 (alongside Stranger Things season 5) was being prioritized internally at Netflix.
SAG-AFTRA (the union representing actors) began its strike in July 2023 and concluded in early November 2023.
Deadline then reported that production was looking to start in April 2024 and dropped the bombshell that filming would likely be moving from Romania to Ireland for the second season.
What’s on Netflix can report that filming on the show is scheduled to run for six months, likely meaning a wrap sometime in September or October 2024.
As a reminder, filming for the first season took six months between September ’21 and March ’22, eventually releasing in November 2022.
When will Wednesday Season 2 be released on Netflix?
A late 2024 release date looks to be completely out of the question, given the filming schedule thus far. Given the prolonged strikes, we suspect it’ll be early-to-mid 2025 when we eventually see the second season.
One source indicated that Wednesday’s license time on Netflix was recently extended by two years (more on this here), with it currently set to leave Netflix, as it stands, on November 20th, 2034. Could this mean that Netflix is eying a November 20th, 2024, release date? That may have been the plan, but we still have much to learn.
Wednesday Spin-off Reportedly In The Works
And finally, we should note that Bloomberg reported in December 2023 that a possible spin-off series is in development at the streamer. They say that development has begun on an Uncle Fester show with Fred Armisen eyed to return.
Are you excited for the second season of Wednesday on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!