Wednesday was an exciting tonal blend. For every murdered student, there was a psychobilly dance scene. For each of Wednesday’s near-fatal experiences, she also participated in a boat race or other school tradition. It’s part of what made the show so captivating: The main character’s dour deadpan moments were offset with a fun Nancy Drew mystery adventure.
Could the formula change in Season 2? Star Jenna Ortega hopes so. To her, Wednesday’s motivations have gone unexamined, and a second season could be the perfect opportunity to rectify that.
Speculation for Wednesday Season 2 has only been increasing since the show’s release. There’s still no confirmation that it will even happen, but Netflix would have to be pretty foolish to say no, considering the streamer’s claims that Wednesday has crushed viewership records.
Fans, understandably, have jumped ahead to discussing what could happen in Season 2, and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is doing the same. In a conversation with Entertainment Tonight, she said:
“I want her to get more in the nitty-gritty of things and not play things so safe, because there are a lot of lines about her saving the school and doing whatever, but for me, her main drive with the monster is of competitiveness. Kind of, Man, how’s this guy doing this? I think I want it to continue down an antihero stream rather than a typical hero.”
Ortega highlights a critical difference between Wednesday and other mystery shows: Wednesday’s not investigating a crime out of a desire to find justice or clear her name. More than anything, she’s jealous that someone other than her is apparently capable of getting away with murder. It’s devious, but what about Wednesday isn’t?
She’s not saying Wednesday needs to lose the moments of humanity we see — her passions like cello and writing, the pangs of her first crushes — but that the show needs to delve deeper into her morally gray character and find where her humanity mixes with her morbid personality.
Maybe Season 2 will position Wednesday as the villain, with what little compassion she has for her new friends struggling with her murderous streak. Maybe we’ll see her on a rise to supervillainy, or maybe we’ll just see another gripping mystery with Wednesday at the center, only this time she’ll have to grapple with the question of why she’s solving a crime at all.
Wednesday Season 2 has a lot of questions to answer. Will Wednesday get back into the Nevermore Academy after her expulsion? What happened to Principal Weems? Is the Hyde still on the loose? With all these loose threads comes an opportunity to show just how far Wednesday will go in pursuing her own villainous thrills. No matter what happens, her growing fanbase will follow her down the rabbit hole.
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
