‘Wednesday’ Season 2: Cast, Trailer, Release Date, Plot

Netflix’s “Wednesday” is back in August, two years after the wildly successful, viral first season. 

The show, which stars Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, was renewed for season two in January 2023.

At Netflix’s annual “Tudum” event in May, the streamer confirmed new details about the show and made a literal song and dance out of Lady Gaga’s involvement.

Here’s what we know about the upcoming season.

The first trailer for “Wednesday” season 2 introduces a new mystery and confirms its release date.

On April 23, Netflix revealed the first trailer for “Wednesday” season two, giving fans their first look at what to expect when the titular Addams daughter returns to Nevermore Academy.

It suggests Wednesday will face a bizarre serial killer who appears to have an obsession with creepy porcelain dolls.

Most of the main cast shows up in the trailer, with some new faces, including Steve Buscemi, who’s dressed in the Nevermore Academy purple striped blazer, and Joanna Lumley as Grandmama Addams.

The trailer also confirms that the eight-episode season will be released in two parts: the first on August 6 and the second on September 3.

Lady Gaga performed onstage at “Tudum” 2025, and confirmed her “Wednesday” season two character.

Gaga appeared at Netflix’s “Tudum” event in May, where it was confirmed that she’s playing Rosaline Rotwood, a Nevermore Academy teacher, in the second half of the season.

She also performed a mashup of songs at “Tudum,” including “Zombieboy,” “Abracadabra,” and “Bloody Mary,” — the latter became a viral hit in 2022 after it was pieced together with clips of Wednesday dancing.

Season 2 will lean more into horror and focus less on Wednesday’s love life.

Amid investigating mysteries on season one, Wednesday also found herself in a love triangle with two of her peers at Nevermore Academy: Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White), the brooding psychic artist, and Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan), a barista at Weathervane Cafe and the son of the town’s sheriff.

Ortega previously voiced her dissatisfaction with the love triangle during an episode of the podcast “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard,” saying that it made “no sense” for a character like Wednesday.

During a conversation with Elle Fanning for Variety’s Actors on Actors, published in June 2023, she said: “We want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more, because it is so lighthearted, and a show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don’t want to take yourself too seriously.”

“We’re ditching any romantic love interest for Wednesday, which is really great,” she added.

Ortega reiterated that season two will be more horror-focused while speaking to E! News in January 2024 at the postponed 2023 Emmys.

“There are some really, really good one-liners,” Ortega said, also teasing more action. “I think each episode will probably feel a little bit like a movie, which is nice.” 

Ortega elaborated on the difference between seasons one and two in an interview with Vanity Fair published in February 2024.

“In the first season we had episodes that really stood out visually, like the dance episode was a really big one for people, and that setting was very particular and it felt like ‘Prom Night,’ a little bit, or ‘Carrie,'” she said, adding: “Every episode [of season two] that I’ve read so far is like that.”

Ortega also told Collider in March that season two will feature “a whole episode based off of slashers, and we make a lot of horror references.”

Ortega is as a producer on season 2.

Ortega famously (and controversially) changed lines and vetoed a flash mob scene in season one of the series.

She’ll have even more of a saying in decision-making for season two.

“When I went into ‘Wednesday’ I really put my foot down and made it clear that everything that I had to say mattered and was heard,” Ortega said in a 2023 comedy actress roundtable interview for The Hollywood Reporter. “And as the show went on, we all got a better feel for one another and it’s become a really collaborative experience, and I feel really lucky to be able to be in the room early next season and be talking about scripts and giving notes.”

Ortega also told Fanning that adding a producer credit to her work on “Wednesday” was a “natural progression” because she’s a “hands-on” person.

“With a character like Wednesday, who is so beloved and such a legend, I just really didn’t want to get her wrong,” she said. “So I try to have as many conversations as possible.”

Ortega continued: “In preparation for a second season, we wanted to get ahead of the curve and make sure that we could start the conversations earlier. And I’m just so curious. I want to see the outfits, new characters that are coming in, scripts, and they were gracious enough to let me put the producer hat on.”

Steve Buscemi and Thandiwe Newton are joining the cast.

Buscemi will play the new principal of Nevermore Academy, Barry Dort, after the previous headmistress, Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie), was killed off during season one. Newton’s role is unclear, although IMDB credits her as “Dr. Fairburn.”