Netflix's Wednesday has already had a huge impact on television and even pop culture. It immediately received positive reviews and ratings, causing more and more people to watch it with time.
The show was successful among viewers that were already fans of the Addams Family franchise, and younger viewers that had not yet experienced a story with the beloved, creepy family. The elements of the show featuring both classic, familiar Addams Family details and fresh, interesting qualities that cater to a modern mindset made it an almost definite success because this structure allowed it to appeal to a broader audience. Wednesday herself demonstrates clairvoyant powers in the show, but has she always had these abilities and is Wednesday Addams actually a witch?
Where does Wednesday’s Name Come From?
Certainly, part of what made it so popular was Wednesday’s iconic and unique personality that was carried over to the new series well. Though Wednesday definitely featured some new details compared to her depiction in the original Addams Family story lines, she still held that same tough and spooky exterior that has left fans everywhere admiring her.
Jenna Ortega only bettered this vision of Wednesday by bringing her own perspective and personality to the character. Her performance resulted in such popular moments as the memorable dance scene that has been trending on social media. As many fans have recently pointed out, Jenna even sort of manifested her perfection for the role earlier in her career when she was in Stuck in the Middle and mentioned that if she was a day of the week, it would be Wednesday. Ortega’s performance, paired with the original qualities given to Wednesday by the creators of the show has given her character a fresh and irresistible appeal, especially to female viewers and lovers of horror.
From the beginning of her existence, Wednesday has been an original character that represented an original perspective. Even the details behind what inspired her character speak to that originality. While the days of the week are loosely named after Anglo-Saxon Gods, Wednesday’s character’s name is inspired by something darker and more unique. The character’s name is pulled from an 1800s nursery rhyme, which most people know as “Monday’s Child.” The song features a line that says “Wednesday’s child is full of woe” which certainly reflects Wednesday’s character traits.
Is Wednesday Addams A Witch?
Of course, part of what made Wednesday’s character so fresh, with a whole new layer of darkness and complexity was her presence at a school with other monstrous kids and the powers that she reveals while there. Throughout the first season, we realize that Wednesday is surrounded by characters that would be considered monsters by society, with powers or transformational appearances. Nonetheless, Wednesday’s abilities soon display that she is an equal among her monstrous peers, and not just through her personality and interests. Through her interactions with her witchy ancestor, Goody, and the psychic powers that she has evidently inherited from both sides of her family, the story reveals that Wednesday has magical powers of her own, but what they reveal about who she is is still a bit ambiguous.
Though her powers were an evident staple in the first season, the series made sure to illustrate that, though Wednesday was powerful and insightful through her powers, they distinctly viewed her as a psychic and not a witch. Her powers were more reflective of her own perspective of the world than being derived from a pre-destined source of magic, like with witches.
That said, while the first season has only painted her as a psychic, previous stories from the franchise may suggest there’s more to that story. Addams Family story lines from works before the Wednesday series have suggested that Wednesday has other familial connections to witches. Whether or not the Wednesday series decides to explore that at some point is still up in the air.
Has Wednesday Always Had Powers?
The powers that Wednesday possesses that have caused viewers to question her supernatural identity in the first place are almost entirely centered around her visions. These powers allow her to see into both the past and the future, which throughout the season enabled Wednesday to understand who she is, and allowed her to easily combat problematic forces.
However, while Wednesday’s powers really illuminated her potential as a character and feminist icon, they were yet another new detail added to the Wednesday series. The powers gave the series something new to offer fans and made Wednesday a more inspiring and powerful female character that embraces her differences as strengths. In other Addams Family stories of the past, Wednesday has not featured such powers but because creators decided to examine Wednesday as her own character, in a new environment, the option of powers offered a metaphorical representation of Wednesday’s potential to carry a story on her own.
No matter what Wednesday’s powers allowed her to achieve in the first season, or what they seem to reveal about her character, fans can guarantee that they’ll be learning more about them in season two of Wednesday. In the new season, fans may learn of a whole new set of powers or may learn something completely unexpected about what the powers represent about Wednesday’s background. Regardless of what route the show takes, viewers can expect that it will somehow illuminate the greatness of Wednesday’s character.