Wednesday's New A-List Casting Feels So Perfect, I'm Amazed It Took 3 Seasons

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Enid and Wednesday in swapped bodies in season 2.

Published Feb 26, 2026, 4:01 PM EST

Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.

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The ghoulishly good cast of Netflix's Wednesday is undoubtedly one of its biggest attractions. While the younger actors were all largely unknown beforehand (and even Jenna Ortega wasn't yet a household name), complementing them with the likes of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Christina Ricci, Steve Buscemi, and Joanna Lumley added not just name value, but a polish of classic showbiz glitz.

That's not going to change in Wednesday season 3, with Eva Green already confirmed as playing Wednesday's Aunt Ophelia. She isn't the only new addition, with Winona Ryder making the move east from Hawkins to Jericho. Ryder's character in Wednesday season 3 remains unconfirmed, but the announcement of her presence leaves one overriding impression: "Has she really not been in this show already?"

Winona Ryder Is The Most Perfect Addition To Wednesday Season 3's Cast

Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz looking shocked in Beetlejuice 2 wedding scene

The Beetlejuice connection does some heavy lifting here. Winona Ryder starred in Tim Burton's original goth comedy, and with Wednesday openly embracing the past (bringing back The Addams Family's Christina Ricci, for example), it's a wonder Burton took this long to recruit Ryder for Wednesday, especially as a director (in)famous for recasting his favorite actors in one project after another.

Because while Winona Ryder has never played the actual Wednesday Addams, Lydia Deetz was cut from the same pitch-black cloth. They're two goth teens with connections to the afterlife that separate them from their "altogether ooky" families.

Also worth noting is that Ryder already portrayed Jenna Ortega's onscreen mother in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. They had fantastic chemistry on the big screen, and carrying that into Wednesday can only be a good thing. More importantly, these are all parallels Netflix's Wednesday could have a great deal of fun playing with, referencing, and subverting.

Ryder fits so seamlessly into the world of Nevermore, it's a mystery that she wasn't one of the first names cast when Burton came onto the project. Indeed, had Ryder not been busy with Stranger Things, you have to imagine she would have made her Wednesday debut in season 1 or 2.

But it's Ryder's Stranger Things experience that cements her Wednesday casting as a "how has this taken so long?" moment. Because Ryder isn't just a kooky '80s throwback or a Ricci replacement, she's a cross-generational figure. The over-35s' "Lydia Deetz" is "Joyce Byers" to Gen-Z and later.

Wednesday and Stranger Things may not have a great deal in common at first glance, but their DNA is surprisingly alike. Two mystery-based Netflix juggernauts that involve youngsters outsmarting skeptical and shady adults to investigate strange happenings in small North American towns. With a foot in both worlds, Winona Ryder is perhaps the only actor who embodies Spooky Tim's '80s nostalgia, and modern streaming phenomenons.

Wednesday Season 3 Must Avoid The Obvious With Winona Ryder's Character

Jenna Ortega in her dorm room in Netflix's Wednesday.

Whether you're more familiar with Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice or Stranger Things, almost all viewers will know her for playing kind, smart, funny protagonists. It would be very easy for Wednesday to follow that tradition and cast Ryder as a Nevermore teacher who believes Wednesday Addams' speculative musings and mentors the young psychic - especially after their mother-daughter dynamic in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

That would perhaps feel a little too obvious - maybe even tired after five seasons of Joyce shooting worried glances at her son in Stranger Things. To subvert expectations, Wednesday season 3 could start by portraying Ryder's character as a hero, then later reveal her as a villain. But that's exactly what happened with Christina Ricci in Wednesday season 1.

The best way for Wednesday to use Winona Ryder in season 3 would be as an out-and-out main villain. No twists, no Joyce-isms - just pure malice and evil. Such a role would certainly give Ryder an opportunity to spread her acting wings after Stranger Things, while also allowing viewers the thrill of seeing Ryder in a macabre Tim Burton setting without getting full-on déjà vu.