Netflix's Wednesday Kinda-Sorta Rebooted The Addams Family
Only four years later, we’re getting a reboot.
The Addams Family contains multitudes. They are the stars of comics, a live-action series, an animated series, two live-action movies, two animated movies, and a Broadway musical. That’s not even counting Netflix’s Wednesday, the live-action series focused on the family’s dour daughter played by Jenna Ortega. Now, that series is sparking a newfound interest in the family, and its creators are leading the charge with a reboot that doesn’t quite make sense, but is interesting nevertheless.
In an interview with Deadline’s Crew Call podcast, Wednesday co-showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough revealed they are working with Amazon MGM to develop a new Addams Family animated movie, completely separate from Wednesday and the other iterations.
The only problem with this is that the last animated movie based on the family began only six years ago in 2019. The Addams Family starred Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron as Gomez and Morticia, and the film was enough of a success to get a sequel, The Addams Family 2, in 2021. Nevertheless, the duo is going to give the series a fresh start. “We’re rebooting the animated film franchise,” Gough said. “So it won’t have anything to do with the two films before it, nor is it connected with this show. It will be a brand new Addams feature.”
This new animated feature won’t be straying from the source material though, even if it is separate from all other adaptations. Gough says the pair are working on the project with Kevin Miserocchi, the director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation who knew Charles Addams personally. Miserocchi also served as a producer on the two previous animated films and for Wednesday, so it’s likely this new movie will capture the Addams Family tone as much as those.
This new Addams Family movie will be completely separate from the 2019 animated film The Addams Family.
As confusing as this choice is, it does make sense. Millar and Gough have already made a name for themselves on the silver screen by penning Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, so adapting The Addams Family in a similar way — even if Netflix and the Wednesday universe can’t be involved — is plenty exciting.
Who knows, maybe there will be some opportunity for unofficial crossover. Jenna Ortega starred in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as well, so maybe she’ll want to continue the collaboration and lend her voice to Wednesday, even if she isn’t the very same Wednesday.
