There’s spooky news for fans of the hit TV series Wednesday: Netflix is looking to expand the Wednesday universe with a spinoff series featuring Uncle Fester, played by Fred Armisen. While we’re still waiting for Wednesday Season 2, it’s exciting to think about all the directions a new Addams Family series could take. Uncle Fester is the perfect candidate for a new show to explore, as an intriguing character who only appeared in one episode of Wednesday.
Wednesday fans may remember Uncle Fester from episode seven, “If You Don’t Woe Me By Now,” of the show. After Thing (Wednesday’s trusty severed-hand side-kick) is stabbed, Uncle Fester revives Thing using electricity from his fingers. Yeah, fans are going to need to see more of Uncle Fester.
Bloomberg, which originally reported news of a Wednesday spinoff, says that Netflix has been discussing the possibility with their partners before Wednesday Season 2 is filmed. Variety confirms that Wednesday Season 2 is being shot in Ireland in April 2024. While there are a lot of factors that could mean the Uncle Fester show never comes to fruition, Amazon is apparently willing to partner with Netflix to get the show made. (Which makes sense — Amazon currently owns the rights to The Addams Family.)
Cosmopolitan also reported that Wednesday creators Al Gough and Miles Millar were exploring the possibility of a spinoff even earlier, before Season 1 debuted. Gough revealed in The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 Podcast that “When you create a world like this, the intention is any one of these characters could be the lead in their own show.”
Given the popularity of the show, it seems as though Netflix has a vested interest in producing more Wednesday-related content. Wednesday doesn’t just have a few loyal fans: Season 1 is the most popular English-language title on Netflix, garnering more views than Stranger Things 3 and 4 by a long shot. Clearly, the show spoke to people, and now, they want more.
But why a spinoff? Bloomberg reports that part of the reason a spinoff was discussed so early is that producing many seasons of Wednesday would start to get very expensive with its all-star cast. A spinoff would be cheaper, but still a reason for people to keep those Netflix subscriptions. It’s part of a growing trend of franchise-building in TV, where prequels and spinoffs abound. However, the show isn’t set in stone — there is a lot that happens between the writer’s room and filming the final episode of a show, so things will need to align for Uncle Fester to get his well-deserved time on screen.
Regardless of whether or not an Uncle Fester show drops on Netflix, Wednesday has enough popularity that there is sure to be something more for fans in the future. There are so many Wednesday characters that would absolutely smash a starring role, and that fans would die to see on screen.