How Old Wednesday Is In The Addams Family Movies (& Netflix Show) (2024)

The many adaptations of The Addams Family, including Netflix’s Wednesday, depict Wednesday Addams at different ages, raising the continual question of how old Wednesday is in the Addams Family movies and the Netflix show. The age in which the two Addams children Wednesday and Pugsley are portrayed varies depending on the project, with the 1960s Addams Family sitcom presenting Wednesday as the 6-year-old younger sibling while the 1990s movies made her the pre-teen eldest child. Considering Charles Addams’ original cartoons didn’t state the Wednesday Addams age, her exact age has been left ambiguous in many of The Addams Family movies and adaptations.

One reason Wednesday’s age varies is that most TV shows and movies depicting The Addams Family's classic characters focus on Wednesday’s sad*stic interest in torture and death — a comedy gold-mine with any age of fictional little girl. The daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, Wednesday inherited her parents’ fascination with the macabre, and is notable for her dark and deadpan sardonic wit. No matter what age Wednesday Addams is, The Addams Family almost exclusively depicts her wearing a black dress and white collar with dark braided pigtails. The latest The Addams Family project is Tim Burton’s 2022 Netflix TV series Wednesday. Starring scream queen Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, the live-action show follows her time as a student at the supernatural Nevermore Academy, where she learns to hone her psychic powers to solve a supernatural mystery that affected her family 25 years ago. Wednesday Addams age in Wednesday is markedly older, so here's the age of Wednesday Addams in every version of The Addams Family.

Related: Who Wrote The Addams Family Theme Song: Origins Explained

How Old Was Wednesday In 1991's The Addams Family

Wednesday Addams was portrayed by Christina Ricci in 1991’s The Addams Family movie, at which time the actress was 10-11 years old. While 1991’s The Addams Family movie doesn’t explicitly reference the Wednesday Addams age, the screenplay confirms that the character is 10 years old. Since The Addams Family spans over the course of nearly a year (Christmas to Halloween), Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams is supposed to be about 11 years old by the time the movie ends.

How Old Was Wednesday In Addams Family Values

The 1993 Addams Family Values movie is set between one and two years after the ending of the 1991 adaptation, which saw Morticia tell Gomez that she was pregnant. Addams Family Values thus begins around 9 months later as it opens with Morticia having another baby, Pubert Addams, who was actually never featured in the original cartoons. In Addams Family Values, Morticia notably remarks that Wednesday is at that “special age” when a girl has only one thing on her mind — which is noted to be homicide. Apparently, that special time is about 12-13 years old, which is the age that both the actress Christina Ricci and the character are during the film. Since Addams Family Values ends exactly one year later on the first birthday of baby Pubert Addams, the Wednesday Addams age is around 13-14 years old in the final scene of the sequel.

How Old Was Wednesday In The Addams Family Animated Movies

The 2019 animated movie The Addams Family also sees Wednesday Addams as the older sister of Pugsley. In this comic-accurate film, Wednesday is revealed to be in middle school, and is hinted to also be about 12 or 13 years old. While Wednesday is supposed to be a pre-teen in junior high during the first animated The Addams Family movie, she was voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz, who was around 22 years of age when the film was released. The 2019 movie was then followed by the critically-panned animated sequel, The Addams Family 2, in 2021. Despite being released two years later, Wednesday Addams still seems to be the same age in the sequel when she presents her project at the middle school science fair.

How Old Is Wednesday Addams In The Netflix Show

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Wednesday on Netflix — all you need to know about the Addams Family spin-off

The title character is portrayed as a high school-aged teen in Tim Burton’s Wednesday. While Jenna Ortega was approximately 19 years old when filming Wednesday, the character is reportedly around 16 years old when the series begins. Wednesday is once again depicted as the older sibling of the Addams family in Tim Burton’s show, but her brother Pugsley’s exact age isn’t clear. If The Addams Family TV show has a long life on Netflix, Wednesday could finally see the character as an adult in a major adaptation.

Related: Wait, Is Christina Ricci Replacing Uncle Fester In The Wednesday Show?

Aging Up Wednesday For The Netflix Show Was A Good Move

Moving aside most of the Addams family to focus solely on Wednesday's journey was a bold creative decision — and it paid off. Wednesday's first season has been a huge success, with Jenna Ortega's performance as the eponymous character being a particular highlight. While the latest Addams family TV show could've gone the Harry Potter route by starting out the character as a first year at Nevermore Academy being around her original age in other properties, studios decided to start her out around 16 years old.

This was ultimately necessary for the story, which is filled with dramatic tension. Such tension couldn't be fully explored if she were younger, and the series would risk going into a Hardy Boys mystery territory. Wednesday season 1 had a compelling story that couldn't have been told if she were younger. It was full of adult drama themes, and if she was meant to be the main character of the tale she would need to be older. Therefore, it's better that the Wednesday Addams age was changed to be around 16 for the new The Addams Family TV show rather than her previous age of 11 or 12.

Next: Wednesday Season 1’s Villain Twist Creates A Huge Nevermore Mystery