Jenna Ortega showed off a bit of her “creepy…kooky…mysterious and spooky” side when the teaser trailer for her upcoming Netflix series Wednesday debuted late Monday morning (June 6).
Directed by Oscar nominee Tim Burton (Frankenweenie), Wednesday follows Wednesday Addams (Ortega), the eldest child and only daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams from The Addams Family media franchise.
In the teaser trailer for the 8-episode series, a dark silhouette of Ortega’s Wednesday is seen tying her hair in the character’s signature pigtails. The words “Netflix woefully presents” appear on the screen before Ortega steps out into the spotlight to unveil her goth look. Her footsteps echo in the darkness.
Ortega is dressed in a long-sleeved black dress with tiny, white polka dots, white cuffs, and a pointy white collar. Her hair is styled with jet black pigtails and long bangs that go below her eyebrows. As the camera zooms in for a closer look, Ortega adjusts her collar a bit with both hands. Then, a third hand, the Addams family’s “handservant” – simply known as Thing – scurries onto Ortega’s left shoulder just before it and Ortega snaps their fingers and the screen cuts to white text on a hazy black background that reads, “A twisted new series from the mind of Tim Burton.” The title card for Wednesday then slowly materializes on screen.
Before Jenna Ortega, Wednesday was most famously played on screen by Lisa Loring in the 1960s TV series The Addams Family and by Christina Ricci in two Addams Family live-action movies in the early 1990s. Ricci was cast in an undisclosed role in the new series. In April, she said Ortega is “amazing” in the role. “I think people are going to absolutely love her as Wednesday,” she said.
Wednesday will premiere in 2022 but is currently without an official release date.