When Netflix’s Wednesday first premiered in 2022, it seemed to cast an unbreakable spell over audiences worldwide. With its darkly comedic spin on the Addams Family mythos, the show quickly became the platform’s most popular season of all time, even toppling the mighty Stranger Things from its perch. Fast-forward to August 2025, and the highly anticipated second season has finally arrived, bringing with it both familiar chills and a slate of significant changes—on screen and behind the scenes.
Part 1 of Wednesday Season 2 landed on Netflix on August 2, 2025, immediately reclaiming its spot as the streamer’s most-viewed show in its debut week, according to reporting by Architectural Digest and other outlets. The show’s return was not just a triumph of viewership; it was also a testament to the enduring appeal of Tim Burton’s signature Gothic vision, which again cloaks Nevermore Academy and the fictional town of Jericho, Vermont, in a deliciously spooky atmosphere. But this time, the emerald countryside of Ireland serves as the real-life backdrop, with production designer Mark Scruton revealing, “We don’t rely on blue screens or anything like that. It’s all in-camera.” The sets—from the slate gray, brick-clad quad to the intricately constructed clock tower—were built from the ground up, ensuring authenticity at every turn.
Yet, for all the visual splendor, the second season arrives shadowed by the fallout from its predecessor. Season 1 was not without controversy: sexual misconduct allegations were leveled against Percy Hynes White, who played the psychic artist Xavier. Though Hynes White denied the allegations and no formal legal action followed, the damage to his reputation was considerable. By 2024, it was clear he would not return for Season 2, with his character’s absence explained early on—Xavier, we’re told, has transferred to an academy in Switzerland. This narrative adjustment, while deftly handled, marks a clear break from the show’s earlier romantic entanglements.
Indeed, romance—or the lack thereof—is one of the most striking shifts in Season 2. Wednesday Addams, played once again with deadpan brilliance by Jenna Ortega (who also steps up as executive producer this season), is resolutely single. The romantic drama that once saw her caught between Tyler, the normie-turned-monster, and Xavier, the now-departed psychic, is nowhere to be found. Instead, the show subverts the expectations of teen drama, as noted by The Daily Beast: “Leaving out a bothersome love triangle also makes room for more interesting character dynamics to flourish and deepen.”
So, what fills the void left by romance? For one, Wednesday’s best friend Enid (Emma Myers) takes on the role of romantic lead, juggling affections between her first-season love interest, the gorgon Ajax (Georgie Farmer), and a new werewolf named Bruno (Noah B. Taylor). Meanwhile, Wednesday herself is drawn into a mystery with much higher personal stakes: the potential death of Enid, her truest friend. As Wednesday herself puts it at the season’s outset, she “already knows where the bodies are buried” at Nevermore Academy—now, her focus is on protecting those she cares about, even as she wonders if she might be the cause of the danger.
This narrative realignment allows the show to delve deeper into other relationships, particularly the fraught dynamic between Wednesday and her mother, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Fans can rejoice at more screen time for Zeta-Jones and her showstopping costumes, as well as a more nuanced exploration of Wednesday’s powers of clairvoyance, which are increasingly unpredictable and hazardous to her well-being. There’s also a humorous subplot in which Wednesday, after saving the school in Season 1, becomes something of a reluctant campus celebrity—a development that both delights and disgusts her in equal measure.
Behind the camera, Tim Burton’s vision is as meticulous as ever. The sets, designed by Mark Scruton, are a masterclass in immersive world-building. Nevermore Academy’s façade, adorned with gargoyles and set against the rolling Irish landscape, seamlessly blends the supernatural with the tangible. The main hallway, filmed inside Ireland’s historic Charleville Castle, features an oversized Gothic picture window, which Scruton recreated on set for visual continuity. The clock tower, described by Scruton as “all steel, all real,” stands as a testament to the show’s commitment to practical effects over digital trickery.
Other set highlights include Caliban Hall, modeled architecturally after Charleville Castle, and Pugsley’s dorm room, which boasts treehouse-inspired bunk beds, stained-glass windows, and quirky props like a gas mask and bug terrarium. Morticia’s cottage, transformed from a pink “cottagecore-meets-the-Middle Ages” abode into a brooding, contemporary Gothic space, is replete with red roses—a nod to Morticia’s signature style—and a faux taxidermic bear, a playful homage to the original 1960s series.
The cast, too, is bolstered by an impressive array of new and returning talent. Jenna Ortega anchors the ensemble as Wednesday, joined by Catherine Zeta-Jones (Morticia), Luis Guzmán (Gomez), Isaac Ordonez (Pugsley), and Victor Dorobantu (Thing). Nevermore’s student body returns with Emma Myers (Enid), Moosa Mostafa (Eugene), Georgie Farmer (Ajax), and Joy Sunday (Bianca). Newcomers include Joanna Lumley as Wednesday’s grandmother Hester Frump, Billie Piper as head of music Isadora Capri, Haley Joel Osment as the lethal Kansas City Scalper, and a much-anticipated cameo from Lady Gaga.
The show’s success has ensured its future: Netflix has already renewed Wednesday for a third season, with tentative plans for a spinoff in the works. The second half of Season 2—Part 2—is set to premiere on September 3, 2025, promising even more twists, turns, and perhaps a few more surprises from the Addams clan and their supernatural friends.
As for the show’s enduring popularity, much of it can be attributed to its willingness to both embrace and subvert genre conventions. By stepping away from formulaic romance plots and doubling down on character-driven mysteries, Wednesday manages to feel both comfortingly familiar and refreshingly new. Heavy is the head that wears the gothic crown, but for now, Wednesday Addams seems perfectly at home in her world of shadows and secrets—single, sharp-witted, and on the brink of chaos, just as fans like her.
