After the runaway success of Netflix and Tim Burton‘s Addams Family stand-alone series Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega, the streamer renewed it for second season in January 2023. That decision came less than three months after the eight-episode Season 1 premiered, eventually becoming the most-watched original series ever on the streamer ever with more than 252 million views to date, far surpassing Stranger Things‘ Season 4, Dahmer and Season 1 of Bridgerton on the all-time list.
Season 1 ending up scoring 12 Emmy nominations, including for Ortega in Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, becoming just the third Latina to ever be nominated in a leading actress category. The series won four Emmys, though Ortega lost out to Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson on Emmy night.
When will Season 2 be released?
Netflix has slated the second installment of the series for streaming in 2025.
Is Season 2 in production?
Yes. The Hollywood strikes in 2023 delayed a return to production for the MGM Television-produced series, but in November 2023 it was confirmed that shooting on Season 2 would begin in late April 2024 in Ireland. That’s a change from Season 1, which was shot in Romania (the series’ success made the location a tourist hot spot, but logistical challenges made a move inevitable).
During press for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), Jenna Ortega revealed to Extra TV that four episodes of Wednesday had been shot.
How will Season 2 expand on Season 1?
Not much is known about the plot of Season 2. Creators Al Gough and Miles Millar hinted that there might be more Addams family members — confirmed by the cast during a Tudum appearance, though they wouldn’t say who — and the idea of an expanded universe is already in the works with a spinoff series revolving around Uncle Fester already in the works from Netflix and series producer MGM Television. Fred Armisen played Fester, the bald but soft-hearted brother of Gomez Addams, in a guest appearance in Season 1 when he showed up Nevermore Academy to help Wednesday and Thing out of a jam.
Gough and Millar also said that Wednesday’s relationship with her mother (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in Season 1) might also get some more screen time in Season 2, a hint further confirmed with Zeta-Jones, along with Luis Guzman and Isaac Ordonez, now elevated to series regulars. Ortega, who is now also an executive producer, also suggested that the new season would have a stronger emphasis on horror over teen romance, which Season 1, er, flirted with a bit.
“I think everything is bigger,” Ortega said of Season 2 on the red carpet at the Emmys. “It’s a lot more action-packed. I think each episode will probably feel a little bit more like a movie, which is nice.”
Are the original cast members returning?
As production on Season 2 began, Netflix confirmed that Zeta-Jones (Morticia), Guzman (Gomez), Ordonez (Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley) and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (Sheriff Deputy Ritchie Santiago) are now series regulars. They are joined by new series regulars Billie Piper, Steve Buscemi, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter and Noah Taylor.
Netflix also confirmed that Percy Hynes White (Xavier), Jamie McShane (Sheriff Donovan Galpin and Tyler’s father) and Naomi J Ogawa (Yoko Tanaka) will not be returning in that capacity. McShane has been listed as a guest star.
That first-year cast was led by Ortega and included Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, McShane, Hunter Doohan, White, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Georgie Farmer, Ogawa, Christina Ricci and Moosa Mostafa, with Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman recurring.
Christie’s Principal Weems, Lindhome’s Dr. Kinbott and even Ricci’s Marilyn Thornhill aka Laurel Gates certainly seemed to be in dire straits by the end of Season 1, but can anyone really be ruled out future episodes given the series’ fantasy elements?
Are there any new actors joining the cast?
In addition to the new series regulars, Netflix confirmed that Season 2 guest stars will include Joanna Lumley as Grandmama, Thandiwe Newton as Dr. Fairburn, Frances O’Connor, Haley Joel Osment, Heather Matarazzo and Joonas Suotamo. Armisen is reprising as Uncle Fester, with Christopher Lloyd, who played Fester in the movies, also guest starring.
Steve Buschemi will also join the series in an undisclosed role.
