Christina Ricci, the actress who played Wednesday in the iconic ’90s franchise “The Addams Family,” is returning to the universe by joining Netflix’s “Wednesday” series in a mystery role, Variety has learned.
The live-action series from Tim Burton stars “You” and “Jane the Virgin” alum Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams. “Yellowjackets” star Ricci will not be playing an older version of the character for “Wednesday,” but further details about her character are being kept under wraps.
The eight-episode series is described as a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.
Ortega leads the series, with fellow cast members include Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Wednesday’s mother Morticia Addams and Luis Guzmán as her father Gomez Addams. Thora Birch also appears on the show, but had to exit for personal reasons before completing filming.
“Wednesday” is created by Al Gough and Miles Millar with Burton directing. Gough, Millar and Burton executive produce alongside Andrew Mittman for 1.21 (“The Addams Family,” “Alphas”), Kevin Miserocchi (Tee and Charles Addams Foundation), Kayla Alpert (“Code Black,” “Up All Night”), Jonathan Glickman for Glickmania (“RESPECT,” “Addams Family 2”) and Gail Berman (“The Addams Family,” “Alphas”).
The series hails from Netflix and MGM/UA.
“The Addams Family,” first created by cartoonist Charles Addams in 1938, has had numerous on-screen iterations. The most notable version came in the 1990s with a pair of live-action films, “The Addams Family” and “Addams Family Values,” starring Ricci, Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston and Christopher Lloyd.
Deadline first reported the news that Ricci had joined the show.