Wednesday: Catherine Zeta-Jones to play Morticia in Addams Family series

Tim Burton’s Addams Family spin-off series, Wednesday, is making some kooky casting announcements as of late. A screaming telegram just crossed my desk and has alerted me to the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Morticia Addams in the new Netflix show. This terrifyingly inspired news comes not long after learning that Luis Guzmán will play Gomez Addams.

The creepy and kooky live-action series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore. Jenna Ortega (The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Scream, Yes Day) will star as the raven-haired brother torturer, Wednesday Addams.

The comedic coming-of-age tale was given an 8-episode order back in February with Tim Burton attached to direct and executive produce. Al Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville, Into the Badlands) will serve as showrunners, with Steve Stark (Medium, The Event), Andrew Mittman for 1.21 (The Addams Family, Alphas), Kevin Miserocchi (Tee and Charles Addams Foundation), Kayla Alpert (Code Black, Up All Night), Jonathan Glickman for Glickmania (RESPECT, Addams Family 2), and Gail Berman (The Addams Family, Alphas) executive producing as well.

Zeta-Jones is the latest actress to take on the iconic role after Anjelica Huston, Charlize Theron, Daryl Hannah, and Carolyn Jones.

While Burton has been hit-or-miss for me over the past several years, I must admit that I’m excited to see his take on The Addams Family. The Addamses were a major part of my childhood alongside The Munsters. Both families represent a sense of self-pride and freedom that I aspire to, and the sets for any Addams Famly project are always a sight to behold. I hope Burton digs deep for this series and shows the world that he’s still capable of getting creepy, kooky, and, of course, ooky.