With the second season of Wednesday premiering last month, one of Netflix’s biggest hits has been revitalized in pop culture. The first season of the Addams Family spin-off is one of the streaming giant’s most popular originals, raking in a global viewership of 252 million in its first 91 days. The first part of the second season, airing August 6, 2025, raked in a viewership of 50 million views, with Part 2 opening to 28.2 million views in its first five days after its release on September 3.
Much of the show’s success comes from its stellar cast, with Jenna Ortega as the titular Wednesday Addams, joined by Luis Guzmán, Gwendoline Christie, Christina Ricci, and Steve Buscemi. One of the biggest names attached to the series is Catherine Zeta-Jones, playing the iconic Morticia Addams. If Wednesday fans enjoy Zeta-Jones’ performance, there is another project starring the actress they should certainly give a chance, as it shares a surprising amount of similarities to Wednesday despite the vastly different subject matter.
Catherine Zeta-Jones Plays Morticia Addams
Catherine Zeta-Jones is one of the most awarded actresses in Hollywood. The Welsh actress got her start on the stage, performing in the West End productions of Annie, Bugsy Malone, and 42nd Street, before making her film debut in 1990’s 1001 Nights. She went on to make her name for herself on the big screen in films like The Mask of Zorro, Ocean’s Twelve, Intolerable Cruelty, and The Terminal. In terms of her accolades, Zeta-Jones has won a British Academy Film Award, an Oscar, and a Tony Award for her stage work in A Little Night Music on Broadway.
The actress is mainly known for her film work, though she had appeared on TV before Wednesday, including Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Bette and Joan, Queen America, Prodigal Son, and National Treasure: Edge of History. Her role as Morticia Addams is the most recent in a long line of iconic performances, including Anjelica Huston, Daryl Hannah, Charlize Theron, and Brooke Shields. Wednesday fans love Zeta-Jones in the role, playing the mother of the titular character opposite Ortega. While she rarely appeared in the first season, her role was expanded on in Season 2, including some flashback scenes with the character played by a younger actress, Gwen Jones. (No relation) If Wednesday fans love Zeta-Jones as Morticia, they will love her role in 2002’s Chicago, for which the actress won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Chicago (2002) Is a Dark Comedic Musical
Chicago began as a stage musical in 1975, set in the titular city during the Jazz age of 1920 to the early 1930s. The 2002 film adapted this musical to the screen, to much critical acclaim. On a budget of $45 million, the film grossed a worldwide box office of $306 million. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards, winning the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. In terms of reviews, the film has a Metacritic rating of 8/10, an IMDB rating of 7.2, and a Rotten Tomatoes Score of 87%, with many viewers who don’t enjoy musicals even finding themselves loving the film.
The film follows Roxie Hart, a wannabe vaudeville performer who finds herself in a media frenzy after killing Fred Casely, who she was having an affair with. Roxie is then arrested and sentenced to the Cook County Jail while awaiting her trial. After meeting a lawyer, Billy Flynn, the two come up with a way to free Roxie of her sentence, with Roxie finding herself enjoying the spotlight of the media attention the trial is giving her. The film is dark, nuanced, and quirky, getting the audience to root for objectively bad characters and their respective journeys. The film is incredibly well-directed, with dynamic camera work that leads itself well to the edginess of the time setting and the musical performances.
Catherine Zeta-Jones Plays Velma Kelly
Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in Chicago as Velma Kelly, a fellow prisoner at the Cook County Jail. Zeta-Jones opens the film with an iconic performance of “All That Jazz”, before it is revealed that she was part of a duo act with her sister called The Onyx. After catching her sister and husband together, she kills them both, causing her to end up in the prison among many other women who killed their partners for similar reasons. At the jail, Velma is essentially the Queen Bee, with a lot of influence due to her close friendship with the jail warden, Matron Miss Morton, known affectionately by the inmates as “Mama” (played by Queen Latifah).
When Roxie arrives at the jail, she finds herself in an odd dynamic with Velma, with the two competing for the spotlight after Roxie’s trial completely overshadows Velma’s in the media. Zeta-Jones is outstanding as Velma, giving the character all the edge that the character was known for on stage. Her musical performances are remarkable, with “Cell Block Tango” being a standout for the actress, as well as the closing number, “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag”. The actress was so phenomenal as Velma that she was nominated for 14 Awards across various associations, winning the Oscar, the BAFTA, and the Critics’ Choice Award, among four other wins.
Both Wednesday and Chicago Have a Dark Comedic Tone
One aspect of The Addams Family and, by extension, Wednesday, is the dark comedy. Why the comedy style generally refers to making light of dark themes that would normally be considered taboo, and it can also refer to adding humor to a work of fiction with dark subject matter. The whole gimmick of the Addams Family is that they are morbid, taking delight in the macabre while also playing into the tropes of a typical family comedy. Wednesday does the same, taking a story with murder and monsters and embedding it with humor.
If viewers love the dark yet comedic tone of Wednesday, Chicago would be the perfect watch. The film has dark subject matter, following a woman who murders her lover while still being presented as the “hero” of the story. The film also treats the dark subject matter with a rather tongue-in-cheek tone, similarly to Wednesday’s dry one-liners. While Chicago is certainly darker than Wednesday, older Wednesday fans would definitely appreciate the lengths the film goes to, and the time setting, and musical elements place the film in a world that feels separated enough that audiences don’t feel too bad about rooting for immoral characters.
Wednesday and Chicago Share a Dark Visual Style
Wednesday is well known for its cinematography, which really helps to separate it from other Netflix originals. Being about the Addams Family, the series has a gothic look to it, with muted colors and often low lighting. Much of this came from Tim Burton, known for his gothic-style films such as Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, Sleepy Hollow, and Dark Shadows. Burton serves as an executive producer on the series, directing four episodes in Season 1 and four episodes in Season 2. His style is all over the screen, making Wednesday a visually interesting series on top of the storyline.
Chicago follows a similar style of cinematography, with a lot of shadows, low lighting, and muted colors. The film was directed by Rob Marshall, with Dion Beebe as the cinematographer. Beebe’s work on the film gained him an Academy Award nomination, as well as several other nominations across different awards associations. The film uses a lot of fast-moving, dynamic camera shots that help to emphasize the hectic nature of the characters’ lives and the media frenzy surrounding Roxie’s trial.
Chicago Is a Great Musical
The only thing that might turn Wednesday fans off from Chicago is that it is a musical. However, as previously stated, Chicago is one of those musicals that even non-musical fans enjoy, as the direction and cinematography are so well done that the musical numbers don’t feel abrupt, but rather progress the story in a way that feels relatively natural. The music for the original stage musical, and by extension the 2002 film, was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb (with the book being written by Ebb and Bob Fosse), while Danny Elfman composed the score for the film. Elfman has a diverse set of films to his name, but he has worked on Wednesday-adjacent projects like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (stars Jenna Ortega and directed by Tim Burton.)
While Wednesday is not a musical, there is a musicality to it, with Wednesday being a cello player, and the iconic Addams Family theme being heard often in the show. The theme itself has a slight Fosse feel to it, making it fit right in with Chicago, which features a lot of finger-snaps in its soundtrack with jazzy instrumentals. Wednesday also featured the iconic scene of the titular character dancing to “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps. Chicago would be a great watch for any fan of Wednesday, and it might even get them interested in musicals, as there are plenty of musicals with darker subject matter and aesthetics, like Sweeney Todd and The Phantom of the Opera.