Small Details You Missed In The Trailer For Netflix's Wednesday

"The Addams Family" universe is expanding, with a new series set to debut on Netflix surrounding everyone's favorite pig-tailed terror, Wednesday Addams. From the twisted mind of Tim Burton, "Wednesday" will follow the titular character and her journey at Nevermore Academy. "Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore," the official synopsis for the series reads.

Starring as Wednesday is Jenna Ortega, recognizable from her work in 2022's "Scream," "You," and "Jane the Virgin." Catherine Zeta-Jones will star as Morticia Addams, with Luis Guzman playing her beloved Gomez Addams. The series will also feature Christina Ricci (who was surprisingly absent from the trailer), Gwendolyn Christie, and Thora Birch.

The first trailer for "Wednesday" proves this series will be a far cry from "The Addams Family" television series from the 60s and movies of the 90s. Let's look at some of the small details from the "Wednesday" trailer you might have missed.

The art of fencing plays a reoccurring trend in not only the trailer for "Wednesday" but also the 1990s "The Addams Family" movies. The teaser for "Wednesday" has the titular character attending several different schools, but she's eventually sent to Nevermore Academy after releasing bags of piranhas into a swimming pool. Upon her arrival at Nevermore, she is introduced to several people, and a scene shows Wednesday engaged in a fencing match. For long-running fans of the "Addams Family," this should highlight just how important sword fighting is to the creepy and kooky family, and it seems like they all share somewhat of an affinity for this combat style.

In "The Addams Family," Gomez (Raul Julia) fences his lawyer Tully (Dan Hedaya). Tully attempts to strike a mortal blow against the Addams family patriarch, but Gomez counters easily and calls his opponents fighting "dirty pool." Not only is Gomez keen with a blade, but both Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) create a Shakespearean-style play involving fencing that borrows a line from "Hamlet." Rigged up with blood packs, their play coats the audience in fake arterial blood. Ultimately, the Addams family has a penchant for swordplay, and it is great to see the upcoming "Wednesday" series following in the same vein.

When creating a series about the spooky and macabre, there is, of course, no better master than Tim Burton. The great mind behind gems such as "Beetlejuice" and "Big Fish" has a unique and romantic take on the darker parts of life. With a short detour into Nancy Reagan High School, it is immediately evident how much disdain Wednesday has for ordinary people. At her previous school, the students dressed in pastels and had a vanilla attitude. But it isn't long before Wednesday finds something more her style. She sticks around long enough to torment the jocks of the school before her expulsion and getting to attend a dream campus: Nevermore Academy.

There, the best of Burton is revealed. The academy has a student body that revels in being weird as well as beautiful gothic architecture. After so many schools that Wednesday has been forced into, it looks like she will finally find a place where she belongs. These types of themes are prevalent in many of the director's works. The best aspects of Burton's "Batman" films included its moody architecture. The moral of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was to embrace these dark aspects of your nature. "Wednesday" looks like it will deliver on Burton's reputation to an immense degree. And with the bonus of murder and mayhem, it seems the eccentric director is truly returning to form.

As much as previous iterations of "The Addams Family" have teetered on the side of the grim and gothic, the household with a horrifying taste in entertainment has rarely drawn actual blood. Excluding "Addams Family Values" and the fake-limp-lopping incident at Camp Chippewa, this trailer ensures that a new day is dawning with "Wednesday," and it promises to be a total bloody mess. Well, there is a killer on the loose, after all.

Factoring in the murder mystery at the center of this new chapter in "Addams Family" history, seeing scenes of violence was inevitable. However, Tim Burton looks to be setting up a splash zone that could match the likes of "Sleepy Hollow" or "Sweeney Todd." The sequence at the swimming pool establishes immediately that this isn't the "Wednesday" we know and fear from a distance, but one that does look to get her hands dirty when necessary. That mentality could make her a prime suspect when the kill count starts to rise in this new story. Of course, Wednesday may see this as a friendly competition. After all, she said it herself — she does like stabbing.

During the trailer, Morticia can be seen throwing a flower onto a grave in a well-manicured cemetery amid a thriving and well-appointed small town. That leaves the viewer to wonder why the Addams family matriarch is alone in her mourning ritual on an overcast day with a flower in her hand and no one else in sight.

Is she paying tribute to a lost family member — perhaps Grandmama or Ophelia Frump, her sister? Is she toasting an old enemy's death or mourning a friend's loss? It's also surprising to see Morticia in a cemetery without Gomez. There are plenty of people Morticia could be visiting at this unknown grave, but we can't be sure how old or new said grave actually is. Based on the rest of the cemetery, it looks like whoever Morticia is visiting has probably been gone a long time. Fans of the franchise will have to keep their eyes peeled to find out what's going on when "Wednesday" debuts.

While Christina Ricci's absence in the "Wednesday" trailer is shocking, another character's exclusion is even more surprising — Uncle Fester. While other family members, even Thing, get their reveal in the teaser, everyone's favorite bald uncle is surprisingly absent. It turns out that the character's exclusion was very much intentional. Co-creator Alfred Gough revealed that the "Wednesday" and Netflix teams are purposefully keeping Uncle Fester's identity a secret, saying, "We have no comment on Uncle Fester. Watch the show" (via Vanity Fair).

Keeping an essential Addams family character's identity a secret for this long is surprising, even for a show that revolves around a mystery. Could it be because Uncle Fester's reveal is directly tied to the plot and would spoil the show? Maybe a high-profile actor signed on to play the role, and the creators want fans to be surprised once the show premieres? All possibilities at this point.

We look forward to finding out who plays Uncle Fester when "Wednesday" debuts on Netflix later this year.