After taking the internet by storm with Season 1 of Netflix’s hit Wednesday, series star Jenna Ortega is taking control and looking to implement some of her own ideas for Season 2. She’s been vocal in the past about where she’d like the series to go in the future, especially when it comes to introducing more horror elements into the show. As a producer on Season 2, however, she has the power to ensure that becomes a reality. During a conversation with Elle Fanning on Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Ortega revealed that Season 2 will cut out the romantic subplots in favor of more scares.
Season 1 of Wednesday saw the titular Addams Family daughter transferred to her parents’ alma mater of Nevermore Academy where she doesn’t particularly fit in with her peers and instead focuses her efforts on solving the murder mystery that hangs over the town of Jericho. During her time in the school, however, she gets caught in a love triangle between Tyler (Hunter Doohan) and Xavier (Percy Hynes White), something that felt out of place for the usually emotionally distant character and more fitting for the typical teen drama. Ortega even revealed she would change lines that she thought felt wholly out of place with the character, instead attempting to adhere more to Wednesday’s gloomy nature.
The Scream VI actress always envisioned the series embracing its darkness a little more and Season 2 looks like it’ll do just that. “We’ve decided we want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more,” she said. “Because it is so lighthearted, and a show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don’t want to take yourself too seriously.” Naturally, that also means less focus on the romantic subplots, letting Wednesday be Wednesday and potentially making more room for her other relationships to shine like with her roommate Enid (Emma Myers). “We’re ditching any romantic love interest for Wednesday, which is really great.”
Ortega Felt Producing Was a Natural Progression for Her Role on Wednesday
Ortega’s presence in the industry is growing rapidly. Within the Scream franchise, she’s become a key part of the new core four for the still-excellent horror franchise and she’s set to reunite with director Tim Burton for Beetlejuice 2. Becoming a producer on Wednesday felt like a natural fit, however, due to the discussions she was already having with everyone involved from Burton to the writers. She felt comfortable collaborating with the team behind the series and generally had high marks to give when it came to making her feel heard:
“We had already been throwing out so many ideas, and I’m somebody who’s very hands-on. I want to know what’s going on. And with a character like Wednesday, who is so beloved and such a legend, I just really didn’t want to get her wrong. So I try to have as many conversations as possible. On set, with the writers and Tim [Burton], we all would get together and decide, ‘Okay, what works and what doesn’t?’ It was naturally already very collaborative.”
Wednesday likely won’t return for a second season until sometime in 2024, a prospect made all the more uncertain by the ongoing writer’s strike. Despite the new season being so far away, it was critical to Ortega that discussions with the writers’ room start early in order to iron out some of the details and get a feel for what the new episodes would bring to the table. Although playing Wednesday was something she initially turned down multiple times, it proved to be not just one of her most successful roles, but also a liberating one in her eyes. More input from the star, and more of the creepy, kooky elements of the Addams Family world, could very well make Season 2 even better than its predecessor.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Wednesday Season 2 as it comes out. All of Season 1 is available to watch now on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.
Source: collider.com