Tim Burton’s Wednesday now has its Morticia and Gomez in the form of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán, further reassuring fans that the Netflix series is picking perfect actors for the iconic roles. When cartoonist Charles Addams created the morbid Addams Family for a series of New Yorker cartoons in the 1930s, it is unlikely that the cartoonist could have imagined their cultural impact in decades to come. Since then, The Addams Family has been through many iterations on the big screen, the small screen, and the stage.
The Addams Family starred in four television series between 1964 and 1999, as well as five movies between 1991 and 2021. Director Tim Burton is now set to reinvent the family all over again with the Netflix series Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega as the titular Addams Family daughter. Previously played by Christina Ricci, the iconic role of Wednesday Addams is a big one to take over.
Fortunately, recent casting announcements for Burton’s Netflix series prove that the helmer has a compelling vision for the entire eponymous family. Wednesday will see Jenna Ortega star as the title character while Luis Guzmán will play her father Gomez and Catherine Zeta-Jones will take on the part of Morticia. Ortega alone has serious credibility despite her young age, having held her own in Netflix’s hit psychological thriller series Scream. Not only that, but Catherine Zeta-Jones’ status as an iconic femme fatale of the ‘90s makes her an inspired choice for Morticia, and the unexpected choice of Luis Guzmán as Gomez proves the director still has some surprises up his sleeve.
The series will center on Wednesday, a first for the franchise, but luckily Ortega has already impressed in several roles that called for the snarky-but-vulnerable goth outsider vibe of the character. While her headlining role in the fifth Scream series outing will hopefully prove her potential as a leading lady, Ortega’s underrated part in the otherwise-uneven underrated Coen Brothers movie antiheroine from Intolerable Cruelty had the same sadistic streak Morticia is famous for.
Zeta-Jones is undeniably inspired casting, with her long history of period piece projects somehow never before including a role similar to Morticia despite how comfortably the part fits her screen persona. Guzmán, meanwhile, is an interesting choice for precisely the opposite reason. Best known for his roles in blockbusters like Narcos, successfully humanizing a character far eviler than the playfully macabre Gomez. He remains a left-field choice for the Addams Family hero, but the fact that Burton has picked a perfectly fitting pair of heroines and a wild card for Wednesday goes to show that his Netflix series will balance interesting risks with smart safe bets.