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It’s Official: Wednesday Is Definitely Coming Back For Season 2

The wait is over: Netflix has finally commissioned a second season of Wednesday.

Given that the supernatural series became the streamer’s second most watched English-language show after debuting in December, this is truly no surprise. But, Netflix has made it official with a teaser video promising that “more torture is coming”.

“We can’t wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky, spooky world of Nevermore,” said co-showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, who produce the show alongside Tim Burton. “We just need to make sure Wednesday hasn’t emptied the pool first.”

Since it premiered last month, Wednesday has become particularly popular with young women aged 18 to 49, a demographic which accounts for 60% of its viewers.

In addition to spawning a TikTok dance trend, Jenna Ortega’s title character has been embraced as a style icon and a game-changing impolite role model.

“Growing up both as a woman and a person of colour, we’re taught to appease others by sweetening ourselves up and dumbing ourselves down,” wrote Refinery29’s Maggie Zhou in a thinkpiece. “But Wednesday, a freshly-turned 16-year-old, turns her nose up at these antiquated expectations. She doesn’t care what people think about her and she definitely won’t smile at them.”

Ortega herself has acknowledged this aspect of the character’s appeal, saying that Wednesday “sticks to her guns, and she’s not out to please anybody – which, as someone who used to be an immense people pleaser, I really respect”.

However, the show has also been criticised for its portrayal of Black characters including Wednesday’s schoolmate Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday).

“The Black characters in Wednesday don’t feel like there was any intention behind their Blackness,” wrote Refinery 29’s Kailynn Johnson. “As much as I loved seeing them included, they feel like they weren’t written to be Black, just to check a diversity box so Burton wouldn’t have to deal with questions about the show’s lack of it.”

The show’s approach to Latina representation has been called into question, too, with Refinery29’s Nicole Froio writing that Wednesday “suffers from presenting Latine identity as a quirk rather than an integrated part of its main character”.

Froio added: “Netflix’s adaptation of the family that satirises the American dream with unpleasantness and a fascination for horror was slated to be a big Latine representation win — but it felt like more of the same.”

Let’s hope these flaws will be addressed head-on in the show’s eagerly anticipated second season.

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