We’ve known for some time that Netflix was developing an Addams Family spin-off series based on the character Wednesday Addams and her years as a high school student.
Netflix then released a teaser trailer on Aug. 17, 2022, giving fans a sense of the show’s comedic tone while mixing in the horror aspects that made the original Addams Family movie beloved by many.
Today, Netflix dropped a featurette that showed Legendary director Tim Burton and the showrunners discussing Nevermore Academy and how color played a huge part in separating Wednesday from everyone else in the supernatural school. The color contrast is most prevalent in one of the early concept arts for the show that had Wednesday’s dorm room divided by a spider-web window and her side drenched in nothing but black and white.
Burton, who famously departed from the original 1991 Addams Family movie due to scheduling conflicts from filming Batman Returns, is the creative force behind the Wednesday series. When discussing Burton’s involvement, production designer Mark Scruton stated that the iconic director wanted Nevermore Academy to feel like a “grounded high school” with real students despite having supernatural elements and gothic architecture infused in it.
Netflix’s Wednesday series also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman as Wednesday’s mother and father. The Addams Family spinoff is set to premiere on Nov. 23 and will consist of eight episodes.
Wednesday season 1 confirms the existence of eight members on the Addams family tree, including the title character. The Addams Family is particularly notable for the many eccentric and supernatural family members referenced by Gomez and Morticia or seen in past TV shows and movies. Since Wednesday primarily focuses on the daughter of Gomez and Morticia, the extended Addams family bunch is only occasionally mentioned, with Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, and Fester being featured in recurring roles on the Netflix TV show. However, as Wednesday explores her family’s legacy at Nevermore Academy, more kooky members of the bunch are revealed.
As was the case in past Addams Family adaptations, Wednesday features members of both the Addams and Frump families, as extending from Gomez and Morticia. However, certain Wednesday Easter eggs have suggested that well-known Addams Family characters aren’t alive during the show’s timeline, making it unclear whether they could actually appear in the series. In addition to bringing back notable characters from The Addams Family’s past, Wednesday introduces new ancestors that bear great importance on the spooky bloodline’s legacy. Here’s a breakdown of the confirmed members of the Addams family tree in Wednesday season 1.
Related: Wednesday’s Hereditary Powers Don’t Make Sense
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Goody Addams
The oldest-known member of the Addams family tree is Goody Addams, who is a new character created for Wednesday. Since Goody is actually a form of Puritan address for women, it’s unclear what the character’s real name is. However, much is still explored about Goody Addams’ witch background in Wednesday season 1, including that she and her unnamed mother were supernatural outcasts who immigrated from Mexico to Jericho. It seems that Goody was the only member of her family to survive the fire set by Joseph Crackstone, which means the Addams family bloodline likely traces back to her.
Wednesday season 1 reveals that she used her powers and founded the Nightshades Society in Jericho as a way to protect outcasts from bigoted pilgrims like Joseph Crackstone. Goody is also where part of Wednesday Addams’ psychic powers come from, as the two are both Ravens who possess strong and potent visions of the future. It’s unclear how or when Goody died, but since she was seemingly the only Addams to survive pilgrim Joseph Crackstone’s mass murder, she had to have had a child that kept her name. Otherwise, Goody likely has an unseen brother, cousin, or another family member who maintained the Addams family’s outcast legacy around Jericho.
Cousin Itt
One of the most iconic characters from The Addams Family may not make a physical appearance in Wednesday, but he’s still referenced in the Netflix series. Cousin Itt, the hirsute being who speaks in high-pitched gibberish, is seen in a portrait hanging in the Nightshades Library at Nevermore Academy. Uncle Fester explains that Ignatius “Iggy” Itt was the right-hand man to Nathaniel Faulkner and trained a generation of Nightshades long before Wednesday’s timeline. Since Fester is so knowledgeable about Iggy’s story, it appears he’s a distant cousin on the Addams family tree in the series. Wednesday‘s portrait of Cousin Itt reveals that he was the “Supreme Shade” from 1825-1850 at Nevermore, having seemingly helped Faulkner study the Hyde species.
Grandmama
While she has yet to appear in the series, Grandmama is confirmed as a character in Wednesday season 1. She’s seen in one of Wednesday Addams’ flashbacks to her birthday parties as a child, with one cake featuring molds of each member of the family, including Pugsley, Gomez, Morticia, Lurch, Fester, and Grandmama. Since the Addamses’ servants Lurch and Thing made frequent appearances at Nevermore in Wednesday season 1, Grandmama’s absence from the story is a mystery.
Related: Xavier Secretly Explained Why Wednesday’s Addams Family Is So Rich
Wednesday reveals that The Addams Family’s spooky witch character Grandmama exists, but doesn’t confirm whether she is Gomez or Morticia’s mother. Various Addams Family adaptations have changed whether Grandmama is Wednesday and Pugsley’s maternal or paternal grandmother, so the series need to reveal whether she’s Grandmama Addams or Frump. Grandmama will likely appear in Wednesday season 2’s story, especially since the character’s frequent identity as a witch fits well with Nevermore’s supernatural focus.
Gomez Addams
Portrayed by Luis Guzmán, The Addams Family patriarch has a recurring role in Wednesday. While his supernatural power hasn’t been confirmed, Gomez Addams attended Nevermore Academy in his youth, where he met his future wife Morticia Frump. While at Nevermore, Gomez was arrested for the murder of Garrett Gates, but it turns out that all charges were dropped and that Garrett actually died from Nightshade poison. Nevertheless, Gomez went on to become a successful lawyer, marry Morticia, and have a daughter Wednesday and a son Pugsley. Wednesday season 1 also reveals that Gomez is close with his brother Fester, but doesn’t confirm which brother was born first.
Morticia Addams (Née Frump)
Morticia is one of the members of the Addams family tree who is connected by marriage, as Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Wednesday character married Gomez Addams after the pair fell in love at Nevermore Academy. It’s unclear if Grandmama is Morticia’s mother in Wednesday, but if she’s not, then the character Granny Frump will likely be a character. It also appears that Morticia’s sister Ophelia Frump won’t be featured in Wednesday, as she discussed Nevermore’s Ophelia Hall without referencing a sister of the same name. While Morticia’s family on the Frump side has yet to be explored, she has played an important role in furthering the Addams family line through her children Wednesday and Pugsley.
Uncle Fester Addams
The Addams Family‘s eccentric Uncle Fester is played by Fred Armisen in Wednesday. In Netflix’s Addams Family spinoff, Fester is a career criminal with the supernatural power to generate electricity, who also has a fondness for Wednesday as his favorite family member. While his relations to the main characters often change between adaptations, Uncle Fester Addams is the brother of Gomez and paternal uncle of Wednesday and Pugsley in Tim Burton’s Wednesday.
Related: How Wednesday’s Uncle Fester Compares To The Movie Character
Wednesday Addams
The title character becomes entangled in a dangerous murder mystery at Nevermore Academy in Wednesday season 1, which leads her to research more about her family history. Wednesday is the eldest child of Gomez and Morticia Addams, the older sister of Pugsley, the favorite niece of Uncle Fester, and the granddaughter of Grandmama. It’s unclear how many generations separate Wednesday from Goody, but the two end up sharing a close psychic bond during Wednesday season 1. Like Goody Addams and Morticia Frump, Wednesday Addams is a supernaturally-gifted psychic, whose dark outlook on the world makes her a “Raven.”
Pugsley Addams
The youngest-known member of the Addams family tree is Pugsley Addams, the second child of Gomez and Morticia. As Wednesday’s younger brother, Pugsley was seemingly used for many of her homicidal experiments as kids, but she was also fiercely protective of him from others. Pugsley appears to be a few years younger than Wednesday, who started experiencing visions at age 15, so he may not begin showing his supernatural powers until after Wednesday season 2. Since Gomez’s power is still unknown, Pugsley will likely have a unique ability from the rest of his family or a psychic gift like his mother and sister.
