Wednesday’s official trailer dropped at New York Comic Con, undoubtedly delighting some of its spookier attendants. It’s an exciting one because of two big casting reveals. Christina Ricci will play Ms. Thornhill, a teacher at the newly unveiled Nevermore Academy. And the infamous Uncle Fester will be played by Fred Armisen. Everyone can’t wait to see these two roles work in Tim Burton’s talented hands as Netflix puts out this long-awaited series.
The Wednesday trailer takes us through Nevermore Academy and walks us through exactly what challenges Wednesday might face at this spooky boarding school. Though we can always expect some off-kilter things from the Addams Family, Tim Burton doesn’t fail to disappoint as he takes us through secret societies, hidden libraries, and suspicions of murder in the halls of this strange high school. The Addams Family lore looks like it will be expanded a bit as well, as familiar characters develop new powers and frightening beasts from all corners of myth and legend join the tale in the new Netflix series Wednesday.
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Wednesday Trailer Unveils Nevermore Academy
Netflix
In the last trailer, we saw Wednesday attending a colorful cliché American high school that looked like a parody of Riverdale. With Catherine Zeta-Jones playing Morticia and Luis Guzman playing Gomez, her parents were forced to deal with Wednesday’s misbehavior after she put piranhas in the pool to punish the jocks that hurt her brother. Thus, Wednesday winds up at Nevermore Academy.
In this official trailer, we finally get a real look at Nevermore. The darkened, high-tower boarding school looks somewhat akin to the Addams Family mansion but with a few extra wings and a bigger campus. We’re introduced to exactly what Nevermore Academy is, “a safe place for our children,” as the narrator tells us. That’s the voice of Gwendoline Christie, as she’ll be playing the school’s principal, Larissa Weems.
As the black limousine pulls through the wrought iron gates, we’re told that Nevermore Academy might be for students a bit more outside of what we might find at a regular high school. Two students turn around from their conversation to show us that they have no faces, then another group of kids howl loudly, showing us, as ever, werewolves travel in packs.
But aside from being a school for the strange and eccentric, Nevermore Academy is a boarding school. As our view passes through a door, we get a look at Wednesday’s room, which seems to be a large attic at the top of the mansion adorned with a huge colorful stained-glass window. We also get to meet Wednesday’s roommate, Enid Sinclair, who seems to be just as happy and colorful as the window. She asks Wednesday what’s wrong. Her mother says Wednesday is allergic to color, and after Enid asks what happens to her, we get our first big Wednesday line of the series: “I break out into hives, and then the flesh peels off my bones.” Later we’ll notice that the giant window in their room gets divided right down the middle. One half being bright and colorful, while the other remains colorless.
Uncle Fester, Christina Ricci, and Special Powers
We learn a lot about what the school might be within a few frames of the trailer. We see Wednesday fighting in a fencing match, an old callback to Gomez fencing in the Addams Family mansion. Wednesday is accosted by people dressed as pilgrims and pins an apple to a target in what must be an archery class. But as she narrowly dodges a falling gargoyle, we find out there might be more to this school than just its regular brand of weirdness.
Wednesday has a bag removed from her head in a circle of hooded figures. She stands in front of a statue as it moves back into the wall, revealing a hidden passage. And the shadow of a spiny, claw-fingered ghoul is roaming the school halls at night.
Tim Burton already told us that, while attending the school, Wednesday will begin to develop mysterious psychic abilities. But it seems that a few other characters from the familiar Addams Family will also have some new powers. As Wednesday draws her sword to stab a cloaked man who drops down behind her in the woods, he catches the sword in his hands and sends an electric shock through the blade to disarm Wednesday. Then, as he removes his hat, we see Fred Armisen’s friendly, bald head as Uncle Fester. He invites Wednesday for a ride on his dalmatian-spotted motorcycle.
In the last scene of the trailer, we have Christina Ricci introduce herself as Ms. Thornhill. Ricci famously played Wednesday Addams in the classic ’90s films. Seeing her interact with her old “self” in this new series will be a treat.
