Sorry Wenclair fans: Jenna Ortega says Wednesday season two is ‘ditching’ romance
After months of speculation that hit Netflix show Wednesday would have a main sapphic romance in season two, lead star Jenna Ortega has tragically put the rumours to bed.
Tim Burton’s spine-tingling Addams Family Netflix adaptation Wednesday saw mega-success after dropping its first season in November 2022. The series, renewed for a second season, follows gothic teen icon Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), the rising star known for her deadpan personality. She gets shipped off to a supernatural boarding school, plunged into a murder mystery and, of course, ends up in some romantic entanglements along the way.
In the first season Wednesday reluctantly navigates a love triangle between herself, brooding artist Xavier (Percy Hynes White) and son of the sheriff, Tyler (Hunter Doohan) – eventually choosing neither prospect. Instead fans saw her much better suited to another character entirely, her sparky werewolf roommate Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) – aka, the sunshine to her gloominess.
Together they formed the ultimate power couple, Wenclair, and queer fans slammed the show for forcing Wednesday with two men when the best option for a love interest was right in front of them. Although viewers had high hopes that this egregious error would be corrected in season two, the Scream star gave a disappointing update during Variety’s Actors on Actors interview with Elle Fanning on Wednesday (7 June).
“I just got a couple of the outlines for the first couple of episodes so it’s still very much coming together and things like that,” she told Fanning about the progress towards the next season.
“I think we want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more,” she continued, “because it is so lighthearted and I think a show like this, with vampires and werewolves and super powers, you don’t want to take yourself too seriously. We’re ditching any romantic love interest, which is really great. We’re going to get bolder, more dark.”
That’s right, it looks like fans will be waiting a while longer before we see any Wenclair action. It echoes co-star Myers sentiment, who told Variety in January she thinks Wednesday should have a “season of singleness”, but did admitted “anything is possible” when it comes to their romance.
Ortega herself has previously expressed her hatred for the love triangle subplot, saying on the podcast Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard that it “made no sense”.
The 20-year-old star faced heavy backlash for admitting she “put her foot down” while on the Wednesday set, refusing to say certain lines and suggesting script edits. However, the persistence paid off as she is now coming on board as a producer for the second season.
“This is my first time [being a producer],” she continued to Fanning in Variety. “It was a natural progression. With a character like Wednesday, who is so beloved, I didn’t want to get her wrong. So I tried to have as many conversations as possible with the writers.
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday. (Netflix)
“We’d decide what works and what doesn’t. In preparation for a second season, we wanted to make sure that we could start the conversations earlier. I’m just so curious: I want to see the outfits, new characters, scripts.”
And she reflected on her place in the industry as a young woman trying to assert her dominance on set.
“Sometimes people don’t take you as seriously,” she said. “I’ve had insane conversations with people where I stay in my place because I’m just an actor. You become a puppet. But the most beautiful experiences that I’ve had on a job have always been the ones where everyone’s voice is heard. Everyone pitches in.”
Wednesday season one is now streaming on Netflix. There is currently no release date for season two.