With the series’ first season having premiered, the creators of Netflix’s new The Addams Family spin-off Wednesday are looking to the series’ future – including the possibility that the title heroine may end up in a relationship with her best friend and roommate, Enid Sinclair.
The two creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar – who many may recognize as the creative team behind the long-running Superman prequel series Smallville – spoke to the Jenna Ortega-played Wednesday’s potential lesbian future during a recent post-premiere interview given to The Hollywood Reporter.
Asked by THR Associate Editor Christy Piña if they had any ideas for “what comes next” for the students attending the series’ plot-central Nevermore Academy, Gough proposed, “We wanna sort of explore and sort of complicate all of those relationships going forward.”
“The school was closed when they left, which gave us the most possibilities for season two, and I think that’s something that we’re excited to explore,” he explained. “For us, the show also is really about this female friendship, with Wednesday and Enid really being at the center of that.”
Portrayed by actress Emma Myers and sporting Harley Quinn-esque pink and blue hair highlights in her platinum blonde hair, Enid is Wednesday’s Lyncathropic roommate at the aforementioned Nevermore Academy.
A genuinely caring and supportive person, Enid distinguishes herself from the rest of the pack (pun slightly intended) of Nevermore’s social ‘elite’ by not only welcoming Wednesday to the school with open arms, but also standing by her throughout her investigation of series antagonist Marilyn Thornhill (who herself is brought to life by former Wednesday Addams actress Christina Ricci).
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Notably, the series does not feature any explicit ‘hint’ or ‘tease’ of romantic feelings between Wednesday and Enid, instead showing them direct their affections exclusively towards the series’ male cast.
Rather, this ‘ship’ between the two is entirely predicated upon certain fans’ overly-dramatic reading of the girls’ average friendship.
“The fact that they really connected with audiences, it has been really gratifying,” added Gough. “So, we’re excited to explore now that Wednesday’s dipped her toe into the friendship pool, what’s that gonna look like? It’s like, she hugged. That was her big arc for the season, right? So it’s like now, we do that.”
Jumping off of his partner’s point, Millar opined, “One of the other elements is that Al and I have always loved the Addams Family and this character in particular, but we’re also the father of four daughters between us. So, we have definitely culled from life for this one.”
“I think we’re definitely inspired to write or find a teen girl character like this, who’s so rare, who’s so self-confident, literate, smart, weird and unapologetic about all those things,” said the co-creator. “Often, teen girls can start off as an ugly duckling, and they blossom into a swan, whereas here Wednesday is fully formed.”
“I think it’s such an amazing aspirational role model to see this character,” proposed Millar. “It’s so rare to see a female teen protagonist like this, and it’s something that has been really gratifying to hear our daughters and their friends talk about the show in this way. It’s really hit that target in a really positive way, even though she is so morbid and dark and kooky and crazy, but she’s actually an incredibly positive force in her world and our world. So, that’s something that I really love about this show, that it’s actually put something very positive out there.”
Having broached the topic of Wednesday’s friendships, particularly the one shared between her and Enid, Piña turned to the discussions of ‘shipping’ happening within the series’ online fandom, asking, “Some users online are even hoping that Enid and Wednesday are endgame. Were you going for that at all at any point, or did you want to solely focus on their friendship?”
To this, Millar replied, “As Al said, this idea of sisterhood is key to the show,” before conceding, “We’re not gonna discount anything, and, obviously, sometimes characters reveal themselves, which is the fun thing we love about television, that it’s an organic journey.”
“We have a roadmap, and we’d like to have routes along that map that take you in unexpected directions,” he continued. “So, we’re open to everything. We wanna explore that friendship in every way, but we’re not gonna be, this is where you sometimes get misdirected by fans and things like that, so it’s just being really open to see how those characters develop and that friendship. As Al said, that friendship is key to our sort of vision of the show.”
The entirety of Wednesday – four episodes of which were directed by Tim Burton – is now streaming on Netflix.
