Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman are the New Morticia and Gomez Addams
Typically the words creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky — not to mention altogether ooky — are not meant as compliments. But in this case, I guess they would be?
That‘s because the new creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky, and altogether ooky heads of the Addams family have been cast. Netflix announced today that Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman will star as Morticia and Gomez Addams in the new series Wednesday, the latest TV adaptation of the venerable Addams Family comic strip and franchise. (Wednesday has already been cast; she’ll be played by Jenna Ortega. No word yet on who’s playing Pugsley, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Cousin Itt, or whose hand will be appearing as Thing.)
Wednesday marks Tim Burton’s directorial debut in the world of television. (He previously made a movie version of the Addams Family-esque Dark Shadows, which was based on a TV soap opera of the late 1960s and early 1970s.) The previous live-action Morticia and Gomez were Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia, who were both outstanding in the two ’90s Addams Family movies. (In the original Addams Family live-action TV series, the characters were played by Carolyn Jones and John Astin.) Replacing those actors will not be easy, but Zeta-Jones and Guzman sound like a very promising duo.
In addition to Burton, Wednesday also has Alfred Gough and Miles Millar on board as showrunners. They’ve previously created and produced hit shows like Smallville and Into the Badlands. Between the cast and creators, it’s already got to be one of the highly anticipated shows on Netflix’s slate. The streaming service has yet to announce a premiere date for Wednesday.