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Netflix Confirms Lead Character Change for ‘Wednesday’ Season 3, Storyline Replaced

A girl with long black braided hair and dark clothing stares intensely at the camera while holding up a black object, with a blurred group of people standing in the background outdoors.
Credit: Video Screenshot, 'Wednesday', Netflix

New information has come to light on the upcoming third season of the Netflix hit, Wednesday.

(Front): Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams (Background): Michael Keaton's "I'm Batman" from 'The Flash'
Credit: Inside the Magic

When Wednesday debuted on Netflix in November 2022, it became an instant streaming phenomenon. Directed by Tim Burton and led by Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, the series broke Netflix English-language viewership records in its first week, surpassing marks previously held by the fourth season of Stranger Things.

The show’s success was driven by Ortega’s deadpan performance, Burton’s signature visual style, and a wave of viral moments — particularly Ortega’s now-iconic dance sequence — that kept the series in the cultural conversation long after its release.

As with any pop culture-defining new show, that momentum came with turbulence. Speaking to Vanity Fair ahead of Season 2, Ortega addressed the departure of Percy Hynes White, who played Xavier Thorpe in Season 1 before being written out following sexual assault allegations he denied. “[It’s] a weird redirect, but we’re introducing so many different characters that I think it kind of will get lost,” Ortega said at the time, adding that Wednesday’s “world does feel slightly askew anyway.”

Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams surrounded by her family
Credit: Netflix

Ortega also revisited an earlier controversy of her own: a March 2023 appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, where she said she’d become “almost unprofessional” on set while pushing back on scripted moments she felt didn’t fit the character, including a subplot about a love triangle. “Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all,” she told hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman.

The comments drew criticism from writers across the industry, and Ortega later reflected on how she’d handled it: “I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that… I think it was hard because I felt like I had represented the situation better; it probably would’ve been received better.”

Season 2 went into production in Ireland in May 2024, after WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes had delayed the industry the year before. Ortega had described the season as leaning further into horror and structured more like a series of mini-movies than traditional TV episodes, with returning cast including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Emma Myers, Gwendoline Christie, and Christina Ricci, alongside new additions like Steve Buscemi, Thandiwe Newton, and Christopher Lloyd. The season went on to premiere in 2025.

Tyler and Wednesday in 'Wednesday' series on Netflix
Credit: Netflix

Now, with Wednesday Season 3 in the works, attention shifts to what’s next for Nevermoor Academy and the Addams family. But it may not be the Nevermoor Academy at the center of the upcoming third season. The aftermath of the Season 2 finale–which saw Wednesday’s werewolf friend and roommate, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), risk eternally changing into an alpha wolf–left Wednesday, Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen), and Thing heading away from the gothic academy in search of Enid.

Many expect Netflix to slot the show into its 2027 lineup, and details are emerging about how Season 3 plans to pick up that thread. It’s a notable structural shift for a series that’s mostly kept its characters close to the school grounds, and it suggests Season 3 is willing to send its lead well outside her usual territory to close out a story Season 2 left hanging.

And it seems that catch up to Enid the group does. While many viewers may have assumed that Enid was trapped in her wolf persona forever, set photos from earlier this year confirmed that Netflix will reverse the finale choice. The photographs show Ortega’s Wednesday conversing with a human Enid Sinclair, complete with Sinclair’s signature blue-and-pink-dyed hair.

Emma Myers as Enid in Wednesday, wearing a pink sweater
Credit: Netflix

This reveal of human Enid confirms that the story may not be about turning Enid back into human form, as expected from the outcome of the second season, but more about how to get Enid’s abilities under control and back to the halls of Nevermoor. It was earlier this year that Ted Sarandos’s Netflix revealed that Wednesday will be going further than she ever has before.

“Production for Season 3 has been underway near Dublin, but a newly surfaced behind-the-scenes image hints Wednesday might be taking a shift from Nevermore’s shadowy halls to something a little more chicly sinister,” Netflix wrote in an April press release, sharing a photograph of Ortega against a very Parisian Eiffel Tower backdrop. A departure from Nevermoor was inevitable for the popular Netflix show–especially if it is to continue having success in the years to come.

And success it has had.

Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair
Credit: Netflix

“Television has — and always will be — a team sport,” co-creator and showrunner Alfred Gough said, per Netflix. “[Co-creator and co-showrunner] Miles [Millar] and I have been doing this long enough to know that shows like this don’t come along every day. It’s such an alchemy of writing, directing, acting, crew, streamer, studio, and fans. We remain grateful and excited to continue this journey and tell these stories with all of our partners.”

Tim Burton’s series includes Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán as her parents, Morticia Addams and Gomez Addams, Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay, Georgie Farmer as Ajax Petropolus, Naomi J. Ogawa as Yoko Tanaka, Gwendoline Christie as Principal Larissa Weems, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams, Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin, Jamie McShane as Donovan Galpin, Joanna Lumley as Grandmama Hester Frump, Billie Piper as (Isadora Capri) and Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill/Laurel Gates.

Jenna Ortega smiling eerily as Wednesday Addams
Credit: Netflix

For Season 3, Eva Green will star as Wednesday’s maternal Aunt Ophelia Frump–the character seen at the end of Season 2 in Wednesday’s vision, writing “Wednesday Must Die” in captivity.

On the upcoming series, creator Tim Burton said, “I’m so excited to be back for Season 3, and it’s great to be reunited with all of the original cast. The addition of some dear friends and past collaborators of mine — [Winona Ryder, Eva Green, Chris Sarandon, Noah Taylor]… makes this season extra special. I feel very lucky.”

How do you feel about the confirmation of Enid Sinclair’s status in Wednesday Season 3? Let us know in the comments down below!

About Thomas Hitchen

When he’s not thinking about the Magic Kingdom, Thomas is usually reading a book, becoming desperately obsessed with fictional characters, or baking something delicious (his favorite is chocolate cake -- to bake and to eat). He's a dreamer and grew up on Mulan saving the world, Jim Hawkins soaring through the stars, and Padmé Amidala fighting a Nexu. At the Parks, he loves to ride Everest, stroll down Main Street with an overstuffed pin lanyard around his neck, and eat as many Mickey-shaped ice creams as possible. His favorite character is Han Solo (yes, he did shoot first), and his favorite TV show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer except when it's One Tree Hill. He loves sandy beach walks, forest hikes, and foodie days out in the Big City. Thomas lives in England, UK, with his fiancée, baby, and their dog, a Border Collie called Luna.

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