Why Wednesday's Jenna Ortega Isn't Receiving As Much Praise As The Witcher's Henry Cavill

Netflix has had plenty of popular shows since the streamer began creating its own exclusive content, and the years haven't slowed them down one bit. In the last year alone, Netflix has released Season 1 of "Wednesday," as well as Season 3 of "The Witcher," among many others.

Still, some fans are drawing a connection between these two shows in particular based on what they perceive to be a double standard. As laid out on the r/netflixwitcher subreddit, "I've noticed in media and social media comments and headlines people criticizing Jenna Ortega for getting too involved as an actress in the 'Wednesday' series," u/JackTreeHill1 wrote.

Meanwhile, the user juxtaposed this with how Henry Cavill is seen with regard to "The Witcher." "I've noticed [he] is being idolized (correctly, so the books should be followed) for doing exactly the same thing and having got involved when possible to change scripts and has been vocal about following the source material and being true to the character," they opined. However, not everyone agreed with the Redditor's observation.

u/JilyanJ pushed back against the user's take on the "Wednesday" and "The Witcher" stars. "One is that Henry is [an] established star that's been in [the] business for a long time. Jenna only just had her big break," they said. "And criticizing the show that made you famous is a bad look [...]. The second is that Jenna actually admitted to being almost unprofessional and was much more direct in her criticism."

Though Jenna Ortega has been acting for over a decade, it's true that Henry Cavill has been at it for much longer. It's also true that Ortega was very direct in her opposition to certain plot and character moments on "Wednesday." Still, the original poster is suggesting a double standard that we've definitely seen before, where women are held to a higher level of scrutiny in general than men are in similar situations.

Meanwhile, u/claudialynnkishi suggested that "The Witcher" fans are giving Cavill a break, but that doesn't mean he hasn't faced repercussions. "I think WE, as Witcher fans, have given Cavill props for trying to be true to the source material and having high standards for the show, fight scenes, etc," they explained. "However, I have seen many, many mainstream media sources labeling him difficult for the same things." 

It looks like there's a healthy bit of debate around the subject and plenty of differing opinions. For instance, u/handicrafhabitue suggested that the advantage was actually in Ortega's favor. "Ortega still has her job (and an Emmy nom); the same can't be said for Cavill," they asserted. "So while we don't really know all the factors at play behind the scenes for either situation, there's an argument to be made that she got away with it while he did not." Given that Ortega continually rewrote scripts on the set of "Wednesday," there could be something to this as well.