has joined Netflix’s highly-anticipated .
The actress, 42, has been confirmed as part of the cast and she’s even getting a brand new role, but there’s been a mixed reaction online.
Netflix confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: ‘Yes, it’s true — the magnificent Christina Ricci is joining the cast of the new Wednesday Addams series as an exciting new character *snap snap*’
Many fans are buzzing to see Christina return to the Addams Family universe, since she previously starred as Wednesday in the Barry Sonnenfeld-directed 1990s Addams Family feature.
However, not everyone is as hyped, as some loyal Addams Family fans questioned why she wasn’t returning as an older version of Wednesday, or her mother Morticia.
‘If she’s not Wednesday you’re just giving us member berries. Sorry, that’s not enough. Nostalgia casting is cheap and lame,’ one fan replied.
‘Would be nice if she played a grown up Wednesday herself,’ said another, with one adding that ‘she would be a great Morticia.’
However, there was also a lot of excitement on Twitter, as fans were ‘screaming, crying and throwing up’ as Tim Burton’s TV debut begins to take shape.
‘This is everything I have ever needed in life,’ one fan tweeted.
‘Yes it’s true – I am screaming and crying,’ wrote another.
Another fan said the news is ‘the reason I love Netflix more every day,’ with the quick-witted, miserable, homicidal character having long been the poster child for goth girls everywhere.
Christina will be a regular in the upcoming series, titled Wednesday, with the rest of the cast being kept a secret for now.
Details of Christina’s role are being kept under wraps to ensure the ultimate surprise for viewers, but it’s definitely something to be intrigued by, with reporting that the actress has already been ‘quietly working on Wednesday for weeks,’ with filming ‘slated to wrap in Romania at the end of the month.’
News of the live-action show was announced last month, revealing that the coming-of-age comedy charts Wednesday’s years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorised 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.
Netflix’s Teddy Biaselli, director of original series at Netflix, described Wednesday Addams as the ‘ultimate lone wolf’, and explained why the streamer jumped at the chance to host the show, written by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar.
He said: ‘When we first heard Al Gough and Miles Millar’s pitch for Wednesday we were struck, like an arrow from a crossbow, right in our hearts. They nailed the tone, the spirit and the characters, but gave us a fresh way into this story.
‘We then got the call that visionary director and lifelong Addams Family fan Tim Burton wanted to make his television directorial debut with this series.
‘Tim has had a history of telling empowering stories about social outsiders like Edward Scissorhands, Lydia Deitz and Batman. And now he brings his unique vision to Wednesday and her spooky classmates at Nevermore Academy.’
The Addams Family was created back in 1938 by cartoonist Charles Addams, and has been brought to both the big and small screens on numerous occasions over the years.
The family – Wednesday in particular – have also provided inspiration for trick or treaters everywhere, as you’d be highly unlikely to open Instagram on Halloween and not see someone wearing a Wednesday Addams black dress and pigtails.
Wednesday was originally played by Lisa Loring in the sixties sitcom, and most recently was voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz in the 2019 animated comedy The Addams Family, which also featured the voices of Allison Janney, Bette Midler, Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac; a sequel is set to be released later this year.
