Wednesday viewers losing it at return of original Addams Family actor

The Addams Family fans are flocking to social media in excitement over Christina Ricci featuring in Wednesday.

Tim Burton's new eight-part horror series landed on Netflix earlier today, Wednesday, 23 November.

It may have only been released a matter of hours ago, but fans of The Addams Family have been quick to grab the remote and settle down to watch the series.

Many have since flooded to Twitter in ecstasy over the realisation the series stars one of the original cast members from the 1991 film.

Despite multiple setbacks and complications, the supernatural dark comedy film released in 1991 - which saw Christina Ricci star as Wednesday Addams - did have a positive reception, even being awarded Best Horror Film of the Year by the Horror Hall of Fame.

Inspired by Charles Addam's cartoons and the 1964 TV series, the 1991 Halloween hit has now inspired a production of its own - the latest Netflix release directed by Tim Burton.

And what better than to have a friendly face appear on the screen?

While Christina Ricci isn't returning within the Addams family itself, she appears in the new series as Miss Marilyn Thornhill, a teacher at Nevermore Academy, in charge of Wednesday's dorm - with the two going on to develop a special bond.

Ricci may not have any superpowers in this role, but original Addams family fans are still overjoyed.

Flocking to Twitter, Wednesday viewers can't get enough of Ricci's appearance in the series.

One user said: "Honestly Christina Ricci in Netflix WEDNESDAY was the only reason I'm watching."

"Super pumped to watch @wednesdayaddams tonight on #Netflix! @jennaortega is a crazy good actress with a lot of skill and depth. The whole cast looks great. Plus Christina Ricci is in it too. Super excited," another wrote.

A third commented: "Christina Ricci aka one of the OG Wednesday's in there I absolutely love her, I'm living for this."

In 2018, Ricci told AV Club just how much it meant to her to play Wednesday Addams because she felt a close connection to the character.

She said: "Both of the Addams Family movies, they’re huge in my history, and Wednesday, I feel very inextricably bound to her, because I feel, like, who can say how much influence being that person at that age for the amount of time that I was her, the amount of positive reinforcement from playing that character.

"It’s like a chicken-or-egg debate: Did I influence her as a character, or did she as a character influence my personality?"

One of the creators of Wednesday, Alfred Gough, told TVLine it was paramount to include Ricci in the series.

He said: "We weren’t sure we could make it happen because Christina was shooting Yellowjackets and she was pregnant.

"We had to rejig [...] the schedule because she really wanted to do it. She worked with Tim [Burton] on Sleepy Hollow, and she loves Wednesday and really loved the idea of the project.

"It was really important to us that we honour the legacy of what’s happened before."