Netflix shares a new look at Wednesday's cool school Nevermore Academy
The new spin on the Addams Family launches later this month
Ahead of Wednesday’s launch later this month, Netflix has shared a new look at the show’s primary location, Nevermore Academy. Presented by Tim Burton, the eight-episode series expands the world of the Addams Family by following its titular character to boarding school, where a haunting mystery begins to unfold.
“Wednesday, to me, is the classic outsider,” Burton says in the behind-the-scenes featurette. “Part of the fun of the show was to create a school for outsiders, and Nevermore just really fit into the Addams Family world.”
Though Wednesday has previously attended eight other schools, ending up at the Nevermore Academy was inevitable–her parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) are graduates.
“We definitely wanted to have the vibe of a kind of Gothic, interesting place in the DNA of the Addams family,” says showrunner and executive producer Alfred Gough.
While the school’s classic architecture immediately looks familiar, the Nevermore Academy takes dark academia to a whole new level with details like a Medusa-inspired fireplace and an ice yeti.
“Nevermore was established for people with special abilities,” describes Jenna Ortega, who plays Wednesday. After arriving at school, she immediately finds herself at odds with her overly outgoing roommate Enid (Emma Myers), a lycanthrope who sports a set of neon claws.
The vampire-werewolf rivalry that’s become a fantasy staple is reimagined here as warring high school cliques. Sirens, gorgons, and students with psychic powers are also common on campus.
“Regardless of the supernatural elements, it was really important to Tim that it feel like a grounded high school,” says production designer Mark Scruton.
Wednesday premieres on Netflix on November 23. (Yes, that is a Wednesday.)