We have not escaped the growing hell of cinematic universes just yet. While at least we’re not getting a Wednesday game show, Squid Game style, we are indeed probably going to be getting a Wednesday spin-off, meant to expand on the “Wednesday Universe,” which is going to be a thing that exists.
That spin-off is meant to center on Uncle Fester, played on the show by Fred Armisen, who appears briefly in Wednesday to help her out of a few jams. This is still in the “they are talking about it” phase, and nothing is definite yet. And of course, the priority does remain Wednesday season 2, which has not yet begun production, delayed because of the writers and actors strikes. But it is supposed to be one of Netflix’s top priorities now that those are over.
It is perhaps not shocking Netflix wants to build on Wednesday’s massive success, where it was its most popular English language show ever, and is still a top 10 title in the first half of this year. Anecdotally, this is the only show I’ve ever introduced my parents and in-laws to (we were on a joint vacation) and they demanded we finish the entire thing by the time we left. Mass appeal, and all that.
But a spin-off? An Uncle Fester spin-off? This feels like a situation where lightning probably is not going to strike twice, at least not without significant buy-in from Wednesday herself. It should be obvious to anyone that has seen Wednesday that the entire reason it works is Jenna Ortega’s endlessly droll Wednesday Addams. I don’t think people are as in love with the Addams Family “world” here, they are in love with Ortega’s portrayal of Wednesday. Take that out of the equation and you get…a show starring Fred Armisen in a bald cap and pale makeup? Ehhh.
I would also argue that Wednesday is not a particularly good show if you remove Ortega’s Wednesday performance. That may sound obvious, but I mean if you zoom out and look at the actual script, it’s red herring city, and Wednesday herself is a terrible detective, constantly, confidently accusing the wrong people of guilt for the entire series. I’d argue the most redeeming non-Wednesday bit is her roommate, Enid, albeit again, that’s another character portrayal not overall script. In short, I am not confident anyone is going to write a good Uncle Fester story.
It feels like something like this will get made. If we have to do anything, I’d probably rather see a series about the whole rest of the family doing things when Wednesday is away, namely Catherine Zeta Jones’ Morticia and Luis Guzman’s Gomez. And Lurch. Want to see more Lurch. Anyway, we’ll see if anything comes of this.
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