Summer is almost here, but we're planning on spending it inside, hiding from the sun, and dressed in all black like our favorite homicidal maniac will be in Wednesday season 2. Jenna Ortega's sophomore season as gothic icon Wednesday Addams is finally arriving this August, and according to the star, it's going to be "bigger, bolder, gorier" and sillier than what we've seen before.
It's been almost two and a half years since we last saw the inside of Nevermore Academy, when Ortega first donned Wednesday's black pigtails in what has become one of the best Netflix shows to date. But the best things are simply worth waiting for, as season 2 is already shaping up to be a much more extravagant experience, taking Wednesday to new locations and adding new cast members from Doctor Who's Billie Piper to Mother Monster herself. That's right, Lady Gaga is here!
Although we're still waiting on a full-length trailer, Netflix has dropped many teasers, first looks, and cast announcements to shake a loose hand at. Below, we've got everything you need to know about Wednesday season 2, including details on the full (massive) cast, the trailer, and the plot and plot theories. That means you can get up to speed on one of this year's biggest upcoming shows at a glance.
So, for all that and more, keep scrolling and get ready for another spooky season.
Wednesday season 2 release date
Wednesday season 2 will be released on Netflix in two parts, the first of which will drop on August 6 while Part 2 lands on September 3.
Filming on season 2 wrapped in early December, which means the show will have been in post-production for eight months. Wednesday season 1 was filmed in Romania between September 2021 and March 2022 before it landed on the streamer in November 2022, so it seems like season 2 is following a similar schedule.
Is there a Wednesday season 2 trailer?
So far, Netflix has rolled out a teaser, a first look at the new batch of episodes, and a behind-the-scenes look at Wednesday season 2. Check out the former above.
In the one brief clip, we saw Wednesday pay a visit to Tyler, who was apprehended by the authorities after the former discovered he was the murderous Hyde monster in the season 1 finale. It appears that Tyler is being kept in Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, and the whole set-up can't help but give us big The Silence of the Lambs vibes. Might Wednesday be asking for Tyler's help to fight an even more fearsome foe?
As for the behind-the-scenes footage, we got some glimpses of the Nevermore Academy set, Wednesday making a speech of some kind, and the students holding a nighttime gathering. It also revealed what the premiere is titled: "Here We Woe Again." It is written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and directed by Tim Burton.
Naturally, the trailer gives us our best insight yet into what the new season will be about and unsurprisingly, it looks to hint at Wednesday getting caught up in another death-filled whodunnit.
We did think we would see a full-length trailer at Netflix's Tudum 2025 event. But we leave empty-handed, as instead, the streamer showed the first 6 minutes of season 2, which saw Wednesday hop on a plane to track down a killer known as The Scalper. But Wednesday's visions got in the way, and the serial killer captured our favorite gothic girl. We're not too worried about her, though.
Wednesday season 2 cast
The Addams Family are returning too, with the show's creators promising we'll see more of them in the second season. The full cast list is below, with a mix of new and returning actors:
- Jenna Ortega – Wednesday Addams
- Catherine Zeta-Jones – Morticia Addams
- Luis Guzmán – Gomez Addams
- Isaac Ordonez – Pugsley Addams
- Fred Armisen – Uncle Fester
- Joonas Suotamo – Lurch
- Hunter Doohan – Tyler Gaplin
- Steve Buscemi – Barry Dort
- Billie Piper – Capri
- Joanna Lumley – Grandmama
- Thandiwe Newton – Dr. Fairburn
- Christopher Lloyd – Professor Orloff
- Emma Myers – Enid Sinclair
- Bianca Barclay – Joy Sunday
- Moosa Mostafa – Eugene Ottinger
- Georgie Farmer – Ajax Petropolus
- Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo – Ritchie Santiago
- Jamie McShane – Donovan Galpin
- Evie Templeton
- Owen Painter
- Noah Taylor
- Frances O'Connor
- Haley Joel Osment - The Scalper
- Heather Matarazzo
- Lady Gaga - Rosaline Rotwood
Teasing some new arrivals, Tim Burton told Total Film during our Beetlejuice Beetlejuice issue: "For me, Jenna is what the show is. She's the reason there's a show. But the rest of the cast are all great. We have Steve Buscemi on this season, which is great, Thandiwe Newton and Billie Piper."
However, season 1 casualties are Wednesday's therapist, Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Riki Lindhome), who was one of Hyde's victims, and Christina Ricci's Marilyn Thornhill. The latter was killed in the finale. Another cast member who isn't returning is Percy Hynes White as Wednesday's almost-love interest Xavier Thorpe. Per reports, he has been written out of the second season, which the actor later confirmed on Instagram (H/T Independent).
Ortega has weighed in on the possibility that Burton's favorite Winona Ryder could cameo in the show, too. Speaking to GamesRadar+, she said: "Man, that would be cool, but that girl is so busy. She really has no time, even trying to get to get together to do this, you know, it was [tricky]."
"So I don't know about that, but obviously, I would love to work with Winona again, and if it's not on Wednesday, then it's going to be on something else, I hope. We talk about it all the time, and that would be really sweet for me."
Intriguingly, Netflix released a new look at the season 2 cast, which features a mystery character no one can quite work out the identity of. Our money is on this being Billie Piper's new character, though we don't know for certain. See the picture below.
Then, during Netflix's Tudum 2025 event, the streamer gave us what we have all been waiting for. The streamer confirmed that Lady Gaga is playing a Nevermore teacher named Rosaline Rotwood, who will appear part 2 of season 2. The announcement was followed by a mash up performance by the star, who sang her new song Zombieboy, followed by Bloody Mary and Abracadabra. Our Paws were up all night!
Also at Tudum, Haley Joel Osment's role was made clear. During the event, the first 6 minutes of Wednesday season 2 were shown, which saw the Addams daughter fly across to Kansas City to stop a creepy serial killer, with a strange obsession for dolls, named The Scalper, played by Osment.
Wednesday season 2 plot
In terms of plot details for season 2 yet, Netflix is keeping their cards pretty close to their Chest. Plus, with no full trailer released, it’s hard to tell what exactly the season will focus on. The streamer is yet to reveal a proper synopsis too, other than a rather vague description which reads: "Wednesday Addams returns to prowl the Gothic halls of Nevermore Academy, where fresh foes and woes await."
The plotline from Netflix continues, "This season, Wednesday must navigate family, friends and old adversaries, propelling her into another year of delightfully dark and kooky mayhem. Armed with her signature razor-sharp wit and deadpan charm, Wednesday is also plunged into a new bone-chilling supernatural mystery."
However, the creators have teased that season 2 will pick up right after that tense and rather chilling Wednesday season 1 finale.
In case you need a recap on just how season 1 ended, here’s a quick refresher: after working out the murders were the handiwork of a Hyde monster, being controlled by Laurel Gates, Wednesday does her best to discover who is responsible.
She initially suspects her therapist Kinbott and her classmate Xavier, but it turns out she'd been chasing the wrong lead. In fact, it was botany teacher Thornhill who'd been controlling Wednesday's new boyfriend Tyler all along. However, Wednesday’s plans to trap them both backfires and Thornhill (or should we call her Laurel) takes her hostage as she plans to resurrect Joseph Crackstone.
Crackstone wakes and stabs Wednesday, who is only saved by her ancestor Goodie Addams bringing her back to life and telling her how to kill him. Her luck isn't over yet either as when Tyler attacks her, Enid finally wolves out and defends her. Wednesday finds Crackstone and kills him with the help of Xavier and Bianca.
The last few moments of the Wednesday season 1 finale see Tyler in some kind of custody, but seemingly about to break out as he transforms into the Hyde. Meanwhile, as Wednesday says goodbye to her classmates and prepares to head off for the year, she gets an unexpected message on the new mobile Xavier gave her to keep in touch with him over the break.
She starts receiving threatening messages and photos of herself from a mysterious stalker. It's not yet clear who this is, but they're sure to cause some more trouble in season 2.
"[The stalker proves] that threats remain out there… to both Wednesday and the school," co-creator Millar told Netflix’s Tudum. "Not all not loose ends have been tied up neatly as she thinks they have."
Despite new foes and old, it looks like season 2 will force Wednesday to delve into something she really seems to detest: family time. And worse yet, the Addams family will descend onto Nevermore Academy, including her little brother Pugsley and parents Morticia and Gomez Addams. “This year, we bring the family to Nevermore,” says director and executive producer Tim Burton in a featurette via Tudum. “Your family at school is the worst thing possible, isn’t it?”
Family will play a central theme in Wednesday season 2, with new Addams family members introduced, such as Morticia’s mother, Hester Frump, and Gomez’s brother, Uncle Fester.
Meanwhile, Ortega wants her character to lean even more into her darker side. "I kind of want her to be darker," she said to Entertainment Tonight. "I want her to get more in the nitty-gritty of things and not play things so safe, because there are a lot of lines about her saving the school and doing whatever, but for me, her main drive with the monster is of competitiveness. Kind of, 'man, how's this guy doing this?' I think I want it to continue down an antihero stream rather than a typical hero."
The actress described the new season in May 2025 as "bigger, bolder, gorier, and a bit darker," as well as "sillier in the best way possible."
Elsewhere, Ortega has revealed that Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death was a big inspiration for the new episodes, though we're not entirely sure what that'll entail just yet.
"I think the feel that we're going for is a little bit more horror-inspired," Ortega told Vanity Fair, though it's worth noting that she cited the 1964 film adaptation of Poe's 1942 work, starring Vincent Price, as a specific starting point. "Not to say that suddenly we're the goriest show of all time. I mean, there [are] six-year-olds watching."
In Poe's short story, Prince Prospero tries to avoid being struck down by a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding out in his abbey. To ease his isolation, Prospero throws a masquerade ball for his well-to-do peers but dies after a curious encounter with a stranger disguised as a Red Death victim – as do all of his swanky guests.
However, the biggest plot tease of all arrived during Netflix’s Tudum 2025 showcase when the first 6 minutes of Wednesday season 2 was revealed. The video, which you can watch below, shows Wednesday investigating a serial killer named The Scalper, and with the help of Hand, she is able to find out who and where the killer is.
With no time to spare, the teen heads to the airport and, after a rather hilarious run-in with TSA over her many weapons and the sunscreen that Hand packed, Wednesday arrives in Kansas City, Missouri. There, she confronts the serial killer, played by Haley Joel Osment. But before she can do anything, her visions leave her unconscious with a bloody nose, allowing the killer to tie her up in his creepy doll-riding house. Despite being captive, we’re not too worried about Wednesday, as the teen has taken on monsters in the past, so a serial killer is a piece of cake.
Now, although the first few minutes give us a taste of season 2’s elevated tone, we don’t think he whole of Wednesday season 2 will be based around The Scalper. We predict that a much bigger foe awaits Wednesday. But to find out who that is, we will just have to continue patiently waiting for a full synopsis and trailer.
Wednesday season 2 theories
While we might not have any concrete information on where Wednesday is heading next, there are plenty of fan theories around. A big question remains about Tyler's future in the show. We know he's coming back, but will be the irredeemable villain we met at the tail end of season 1, or could there be some changes to his characterization?
A major theory is that we haven't learned everything about his species yet, as he might not be the purely evil character we think he is. Hydes may take some more inspiration from Jekyll and Hyde than originally thought, and could actually be a completely different personality, according to one Reddit fan.
Based on Bianca's storyline in season 1, a huge plot point may have already been revealed too. When her mother comes to visit her, she tries to get her to return to the cult Morning Sun, which seems to be able to scam people via an app. We didn't hear from them again in the first season, but it seems like this could be readdressed when the show returns.
Another of the major unknowns heading into season 2 is who Wednesday's stalker is. Fans on Reddit have already been speculating about the most likely candidates. Xavier is a potential option, given he's the only one who knows about Wednesday's phone and has her number. However, it would be pretty brazen of him to be using this information straight away.
Others have suggested that it could be the Sheriff, given Wednesday is definitely not in his good books after working out Tyler was behind the killings. "He has his eye on her because he believes she could be as threatening, probably more, than Gomez," theorized one viewer. However, the vast majority think the show may use the opportunity to bring in a new character altogether through the twist. It seems like we'll have to wait and see...
One of the show's stars has also shared their opinion of some of the theories floating around. When asked if a Wednesday and Enid romance was possible, Enid star Emma Myers told Variety: "Anything is possible in the show. We haven’t really spoken about direction at all, so I don’t really know what the game plan is for anything. As far as love interests go for Wednesday, I feel like at least for a second season, she needs to take her season of singleness. She just had a whole fiasco with her men, she’s got to lay it off for a little bit. I would be deterred from dating anybody if I had gone through that."
Wednesday is one of Netflix's most streamed shows of all time. For what else to watch, check out our round-up of the best Netflix movies available now.
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