Wednesday Addams revealed: Jenna Ortega plays the iconic sadistic sister in Tim Burton's live-action series

Everyone's favourite sassy younger sister will have her TV show. Wednesday, a new live-action show about Wednesday Addams of the Addams Family, will be available on Netflix shortly, thanks to Tim Burton's gloriously twisted mind.

The fictional Addams Family, who first appeared in cartoon form in 1938, are best known for their appearances off the page, particularly in the 1960s television series, the iconic 1990s feature films starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Juila, Christopher Lloyd, Jimmy Workman, and Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci in her iconic portrayal of Wednesday, and the 2019 animated film, in which Wednesday is voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz.

Jenna Ortega, a 19-year-old Scream Queen in the making, has been cast in the new live-action series as the gothic, death-obsessed youngster. The show, which was first revealed in February 2021, will be scripted by the writers of the Superman show Smallville and will have producers who have worked on past Addams Family productions.

Wednesday has been described as a unique blend of fantasy, horror, mystery, and comedy — but it is first and foremost a coming-of-age story. Wednesday Addams' years as a student at Nevermore Academy are chronicled in the eight-episode first season. The show will follow Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorised the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that engulfed her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore, according to the official synopsis released by Netflix.

After a little more than a year, Netflix has finally unveiled a first look at Jenna's transition into Wednesday Addams, and she's terrifyingly unrecognisable. In new photographs posted by Netflix, Jenna may be seen wearing Wednesday's signature white-collared, long-sleeve black dress; her long braided pigtails; her extremely pale face; and her apathetically gaunt expression in new photographs. Jenna's transformation into the character is nearly frightening. Isn't that, after all, the point?

Wednesday stars Chicago actor Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams and Narcos actor Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams, the head of the Addams Family. Isaac Ordonez, Thora Birch, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan, Georgie Farmer, Moosa Mostafa, Emma Myers, Naomi J. Ogawa, Joy Sunday, Percy Hynes White, Gwendoline Christie, and Christina Ricci herself have joined the cast in an unnamed capacity, according to Deadline.