Wednesday brought innovative changes to the iconic Adams Family. However, the show is not entirely faithful to the title character’s essence.
Summary
- Changes made to The Addams Family for Netflix’s Wednesday proved beneficial for the show’s interest and made it a worldwide sensation.
- The adaptation focuses on Wednesday as the main character, making it more of a teen show and adding supernatural elements like Harry Potter and X-Men.
- While the addition of Nevermore Academy and outcast characters takes away some of the original charm, it adds layers and possibilities for the series to grow and showcase the writer’s creativity.
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Changes made to The Addams Family for Netflix’s Wednesday proved to be beneficial for the show’s interest, but they weren’t exactly good for the titular daughter as a character. In 2022, Tim Burton’s adaptation of the iconic family became one of the streaming platform’s biggest hits, showing the largest number of viewers for a Netflix premiere that year. In addition to this, Wednesday‘s success and dominance were shown by it beating HBO’s prequel House of the Dragon‘s first-week numbers. In other words, the show was a worldwide sensation, already promising to break further records in the second season.
Wednesday is a free adaptation of the classic Addams Family comic strip as many changes were made to make it more suitable for a TV show and for today’s audience. In the first place, while past adaptations focus more on Gomez, Morticia, or Uncle Fester, this installment sets the point of view on Wednesday, making it more of a teen show. In addition to this, Wednesday takes influence from Harry Potter and X-Men by adding supernatural elements and an academy for kids with special powers. Even though these changes add layers to the story, they also take something fundamental away from the family and from Wednesday herself.
Wednesday’s Nevermore Academy Made The Addams Family (& Wednesday) Less Special
The Addams Family‘s charm stemmed from the fact that the characters were a one-of-a-kind family, and that brought constant conflicts between them and the rest of the world. The Addamses were spooky, dark, peculiar, and eccentric, but they were human. The addition of magical powers on Wednesday, on the other hand, makes them even more peculiar than they originally were. However, the introduction of Nevermore Academy’s outcasts changes the landscape completely, since it also represents the addition of a lot of characters similar to the family, which makes them less special. The Addamses are still outcasts from society, but they are not alone.
The same happens with the lead character of the show. While Wednesday Addams maintains her distinctiveness related to her dark and Gothic aesthetic, she is missing some of the original character’s essence. Considering that in the ’90s Addams Family movies she was a side character, her appeal lay in being mysterious and a “hater” making funny remarks. In the Netflix series, however, while Wednesday still has “hater” vibes, she irremediably creates bonds with some of her classmates. The fact that she belongs somewhere, pushes the series to put Wednesday’s relationship with her family as a conflict, something that does not respond to the character’s original approach.
Wednesday’s Nevermore Characters Were Still A Highlight Of The Show
Wednesday‘s version of The Addams Family is far from the original comic strip, the addition of the Nevermore Academy and all the outcast species is what makes the show so great. Considering that audiences have been craving stories like Harry Potter to get on TV, taking that path was surely a good decision. In addition to this, the variety of special powers or supernatural conditions gives the series many layers and possibilities to keep growing season by season. The incorporation of magical elements always creates space for the writer’s creativity to shine, which will surely be seen in Wednesday season 2.
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Wednesday Release Date: 2022-11-16 Cast: Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Christina Ricci, Hunter Doohan, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural Rating: TV-14 Seasons: 1 Summary: Netflix’s Addams Family series takes place at Nevermore Academy, a school that nurtures outcasts, freaks, and monsters. The Tim Burton-directed series follows Wednesday Addams as she tries to master her emerging psychic powers and solve the supernatural mystery surrounding her family history. Jenna Ortega stars in the popular series, which originally aired on Netflix on November 23, 2022. Story By: Charles Addams Writers: Miles Millar, Alfred Gough Streaming Service: Netflix Franchise(s): The Addams Family Directors: Tim Burton, James Marshall, Gandja Monteiro Showrunner: Miles Millar, Alfred Gough
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