Wednesday Addams and Mythological Creatures

The Netflix series Wednesday, now in its second season, draws upon the Addams Family cartoons created by Charles Addams in the 1930s. But it also takes inspiration from the abundant mythology of supernatural creatures in Western culture.

The Addams family are part of a world called the Outcasts. The various outcasts have different powers.

For the for example, werewolves, who transform into wolves at the full moon. Wednesday’s roommate Enid (top of the page) is a werewolf, but in the first series was wondering if her powers would ever properly develop. Wednesday, like her mother Morticia, has psychic powers, being able to see into people's thoughts and memories. She is also trying to master her powers and when she uses them black tears run down from her eyes.

Gorgons, as in Greek mythology, have snakes in the place of hair. If someone looks at a Gorgon when their hair is visible they, are turned, thankfully temporarily, to stone. Therefore, hats are part of the Gorgon school uniform.

Sirens, often mixed in mythology with the idea of mermaids, can use their voice or siren song to make people do what they want. In Greek mythology, it’s usually to lure sailors to their death. In the series, sirens simply have the power to get other people to do whatever they ask. In order to avoid them doing it unintentionally, they wear a special necklace that blocks their power. That’s why sirens such as Bianca regularly remove their necklaces. This is against school rules and yet the new school principal in season two, Principal Dort, pressures  Bianca to use her power in order to persuade former students of the school to make large donations as part of the fundraising committee. Sirens are also part mermaid and can breathe underwater.

Vanishers have the power to make themselves invisible, which Wednesday's sometime assistant in season two, Agnes DeMille, uses to great effect.

Wednesday's brother Gomez and uncle Fester are Sparks. They can produce electricity at will, also called electrokinesis. Other kinetic abilities include pyrokinesis, the ability to produce fire at will, displayed by Principal Dort, and telekinesis, the ability to move objects just with the power of the mind.

Some Outcasts are shapeshifters: they can take on the form of other people or creatures. Principal Weem did that in season one, to conceal the fact that a student, Rowan, was dead. A supercharged form of shapeshifter is based on a more modern myth, Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Hydes seem perfectly normal most of the time but when they are provoked they transform into furious, superstrong monsters.

Videos in Class
If you'd like to take advantage of your pupils' interest in the series to talk about it in class, feel free to use our article. Discussing superpowers, like superheroes, is a perfect occasion to practise modal verbs.

And don't just take our word for it. This short video features some of the main cast members of Wednesday giving us the rundown on each Outcast group. The speech is quite fast, but you can always have students focus on the images.

.

 

Wednesday Season 2
The first set of episodes released on Netflix on 6 August and the second batch on 3 September 2025.