Luis Guzmán is our new Gomez Addams. Variety reports that the veteran actor, whose career spans more than 40 years, has just signed on to play Gomez in Wednesday, the Addams Family reboot series in development at Netflix. Jenna Ortega also stars as Wednesday Addams, and as of now, only Ortega and Guzmán have been officially cast for the project. Tim Burton is directing the series, the first TV show for the veteran filmmaker.
Wednesday follows an older Wednesday Addams after she leaves the Addams family mansion. The show has been described as “a supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student 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.”
Guzmán’s role as Gomez will be in a guest starring capacity, suggesting we won’t be seeing the other members of the Addams family as much as Wednesday. This makes sense as Wednesday is now out of the home and in an entirely new setting, though it still wouldn’t feel right not to bring in the other Adamses for special appearances. As Gomez is such a beloved character, it’s a challenge for any actor to step into the role, but Guzmán is certainly talented enough to make it work.
Gomez was famously played by John Astin in the original TV series version of The Addams Family. Raul Julia and Tim Curry have also played live-action movie versions of Gomez in the 1990s. More recently, Oscar Isaac has been voicing the role in the animated Addams Family movies.
As of now, Netflix hasn’t released any information as to when Wednesday will be released. With the cast further taking shape, filming can’t be too far off, though it’s also unclear when cameras will officially start rolling. In any case, Wednesday will be something for fans of Burton and/or The Addams Family to watch out for.
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