Wednesday is bringing in reinforcements for Season 3, and the casting is almost too perfect.
Winona Ryder and Eva Green are joining Netflix's Addams Family series, according to Bloody Disgusting. The show is currently in production, which means we'll eventually see what happens when you put three generations of goth icons in the same frame.
Ryder returning to the Addams Family universe is the definition of full circle. She played Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, the proto-Wednesday who defined goth teenager aesthetics for the late '80s. Now she's back in Burton's orbit (he's an executive producer on Wednesday) playing... well, we don't know yet. But the meta-casting alone is worth the price of admission.
Eva Green, meanwhile, is the actress who can out-goth literally anyone. Penny Dreadful, Dark Shadows, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - she's built a career on playing haunted, theatrical women with impeccable cheekbones and excellent eyeliner. Casting her in Wednesday is like bringing in a ringer for a pickup basketball game.
The first two seasons of Wednesday turned Jenna Ortega into a global phenomenon and became one of Netflix's biggest hits. The show's success proved that audiences will absolutely show up for Tim Burton aesthetics updated for Gen Z, especially when filtered through Ortega's brilliantly deadpan performance.
Season 3 has the advantage - and burden - of following a massive hit. The first season had the element of surprise. The second season had momentum. The third season has expectations. Bringing in Ryder and Green suggests the show is doubling down on its strengths rather than trying to reinvent itself.
No details yet on what roles they're playing, but the speculation is delicious. Ryder as a teacher at Nevermore Academy? Green as a rival psychic? Both of them as mysterious figures from Morticia and Gomez's past? The possibilities are endless and uniformly excellent.
Wednesday works because it understands that the Addams Family has always been about outsiders finding their people. Ortega's Wednesday is prickly, antisocial, and aggressively individualistic - but she's also learning that even lone wolves need a pack sometimes. Adding Ryder and Green to that mix suggests Season 3 will explore what happens when Wednesday meets people who actually understand her.
Production is already underway, which means we're likely looking at a 2027 release. That's a long wait, but Netflix clearly wants to get this right. Wednesday is one of their few genuine hits in an increasingly crowded streaming landscape. They can't afford to rush it.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything - but casting Winona Ryder and Eva Green in your goth teenage drama is about as close to a sure thing as you can get.