Wednesday star Jenna Ortega attends Sydney event as major plot twist on hit Netflix series

News.com.au

3 days ago

Warning: Contains spoilers from Wednesday Season 2, Part 2
The stars of Netflix's hit series Wednesday descended on Sydney's Cockatoo Island on Thursday afternoon – and the overcast Sydney weather was a perfect backdrop for the event.
Clad in her character's signature dark attire, titular star Jenna Ortega put on a haunting appearance alongside Emma Myers – who plays her cheerful best friend Enid Sinclair – as they attended an 'Outcast Assembly' on the famed island to promote Season 2 of the gothic series.
Joining them at the event was the master of the macabre himself Tim Burton, who is the director and executive producer of the show.
'I love the character,' the Oscar nominee told the crowd about the iconic Wednesday Addams. 'I agree with everything she says, everything she feels a about family, school, psychiatry and society, so that's why we're here in this beautiful place. It's something I really identify with.'
The trio are in Sydney for the final stop on the global Doom Tour, and are also joined by series creator/showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The group have visited England, Poland, Italy, France, Romania, the US, Canada and South Korea.
But they left a major announcement for their last and final stop in Sydney.
In dramatic scenes, actress Gwendoline Christie emerged from behind a giant moon suspended from the warehouse ceiling to reveal in a world-exclusive announcement that her character, Nevermore Academy headmistress Larissa Weems, will be brought back from the dead in Season 2.
'Did you really think Nevermore would let me go so easily,' her voice echoed in the warehouse. 'I was never gone. You just stopped looking.'
Fans would know that Weems, a shapeshifter, was the former roommate of Wednesday's mum Morticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones) when they were at school and would later become the principal of Nevermore Academy, where Wednesday and Enid attend.
Weems was a major character on Season 2 and many fans were left shocked when she was tragically poisoned with a laced syringe by the deranged Laurel Gates, aka Marilyn Thornhill aka Christina Ricci.
'This season we'll see a different of Larissa Weems' suffering,' Christie later told the crowd, which was filled with superfans dressed in the purple Nevermore uniforms.
'It's such an honour,' Ortega said from the stage when asked about being back in black as Wednesday.
'Oftentimes you don't get to revisit your character, so to be able to do it with some like Wednesday. I feel very, very lucky.'
Burton, Ortega and Myers will again take centre stage on Saturday at Cockatoo Island when the harbour attraction is transformed into Wednesday Island – a makeshift purple playground where fans lucky enough to secure tickets can walk through a gauntlet of haunting experiences, such The Raven's Passage and The Dead Lounge, while also taking a peek at The Doll House and Wednesday and Enid's Room.
Season 2 sees Wednesday return to Nevermore Academy with her razor-sharp remarks and deadpan demeanour. Armed with her sharp detective skills, she soon finds herself obsessing over a new supernatural mystery that sees her get up to all sorts of kooky mayhem.
Despite almost a three-year break between Seasons 1 and 2, Netflix numbers show that there was a zero per cent drop in viewership when Season 2: Part 1 premiered on August 6.
According to Forbes, Wednesday got 50 million views in its first five days of streaming, which puts it on par with the Season 1 debut in November 2022.
It's worth noting that Season 1 premiered with all eight episodes in one drop, whereas Season 2 premiered with only the first four episodes, with Part 2 premiering on Netflix on September 3. Therefore, expect another viewership spike next month.