6 Addams Family Easter Eggs In Netflix's Wednesday
They were subtle, but they were there.
Wednesday may not be exactly what you’d expect when it comes to the Addams Family. Sure, the new Netflix show has got the deadpan humor, macabre puns, and gothic style that made the original Addams Family sitcom and its subsequent movies spooky season favorites, but the new take throws some new stuff into the mix: supernatural powers, a boarding-school setting, and oh yeah, a seriously twisted murder mystery. Despite those update, the show is still full of tributes to its source material, and these Addams Family Easter eggs in Netflix’s Wednesday were clearly added just for the superfans.
Spoiler alert: This post discusses light spoilers from throughout Wednesday. The Addams Family has a rich, long history, so there were plenty of little nuggets for Wednesday to wink at. The iconic family was first created by cartoonist Charles Addams in 1938, appearing as single-panel comics in The New Yorker and other magazines. Their popularity went on to inspire an ABC sitcom, The Addams Family, in 1964, and ever since then, the creepy and kooky family members have taken over just about every facet of popular media, from movies to musicals to video games.
Although the Addamses have been around for nearly a century, they’re perhaps best known for thanks to the hit 1991 movie The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel Addams Family Values, both of which have become cult classics frequently rewatched by fans.
Fittingly enough, Wednesday is chock-full of callbacks to those movies and the Addams family’s cultural history at large. Here are some of the best Easter eggs.
1. Pilgrim World
The biggest and most satisfying Easter egg arrives in the very first episode of Wednesday, as the gloomy new transfer student learns that the town near her new school has an amusement park called Pilgrim World. Obviously, Wednesday can’t stand the place and its celebration of American colonialism — she even beats up a few teens dressed as pilgrims for good measure. The righteous hatred of pilgrims is a callback to Wednesday’s Thanksgiving play at the end of Addams Family Values. In one of the movie’s most famous moments, Wednesday takes a stand for Native Americans and burns down the pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving.
2. Wednesday’s Bond With Eugene
Wednesday’s unlikely friendship with outcast beekeeper Eugene is another nod to Addams Family Values. In that movie, Wednesday grew close to nerdy loner Joel while a summer camp, relying on him to help with her schemes and even kissing him in the end. Eugene shares a lot of very obvious similarities to Joel, so any Addams Family Values fans could probably see that friendship blossoming right away.
3. Two Snaps
As Wednesday researches Nevermore’s secret society, the Nightshades, she learns that the secret to getting into their headquarters is to snap twice in front of a statue. Obviously, anyone who’s even remotely familiar with the Addams Family knows that the original sitcom’s theme song is iconic for featuring two finger-snaps in quick succession.
4. Eating Girl Scouts
In one of her many intimidating comebacks, Wednesday declares, "I could eat Girl Scouts for breakfast.” The small line is a reference to one of Wednesday’s most well-known retorts from 1991’s The Addams Family. In that movie, a girl scout came up to Wednesday’s lemonade stand and repeatedly asked if the lemonade was made from real lemons. When the scout then tried to sell Wednesday some Girl Scout cookies, she shot back, “Are they made from real Girl Scouts?”
5. Uncle Fester’s Electrical Powers
In Wednesday, Uncle Fester has the powerful ability to shoot lightning bolts out of his hands. Although Fester never had legit superpowers like that before, this unique ability might actually be inspired by one of his long-running tricks. One of Fester’s best-known gags in the original sitcom was to put a lightbulb in his mouth and somehow, it would light up. Apparently, he’s always had electricity coursing through his body, so Wednesday’s supercharged upgrade isn’t too far from the original Fester.
6. Christina Ricci
OK, this Easter egg is really out in plain sight, but you simply can’t ignore the ‘90s version of Wednesday popping up in the new Netflix show. Ricci played Wednesday in both ‘90s movies, but now she’s traded in those iconic black braids for blunt red bangs as the plant-loving Nevermore professor Ms. Thornhill.
All episodes of Wednesday are streaming on Netflix.
