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Wednesday, which debuted on Netflix in 2022, immediately became the most-watched English-language series ever. But besides the never-ending “Wenclair” (Wednesday + Enid) fan content, TikToks, and viral edits, have the character's romantic relationships made her a bit...dull?
What if the actual answer lies in staying away from romance entirely rather than picking between Xavier and Tyler, or even shipping her with Enid?
Wednesday Addams has the ability to become the asexual and aromantic icon that television has been waiting for. Read on to know why.
The problem with romance at Nevermore
Since day one, Jenna Ortega has been voicing her frustration with the show's season one love triangle. She said it didn't make sense for the character on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.
Ortega said, "Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all."
She was later happy over reports that romantic subplots would be entirely omitted in season two.
This criticism is persuasive, and it's clear why. The Bella-Edward-Jacob saga in Twilight, Team Gale vs. Team Peeta in The Hunger Games, and countless other teen dramas are examples of love triangles.
But routine melodrama was never Wednesday Addams' style. The subversive is what she thrives on.
The writers could have tested with the trope by allowing the lead to "[torture] both options, scaring them away," as a Reddit user suggested. Instead, the series adopted a traditional (and many say unconvincing) romantic arc.
Wednesday as an aroace trailblazer
For some, that lack of interest in romance might hint at a less talked-about identity: aromantic asexuality. Some argue Wednesday’s aroace coding could restore her original countercultural bite. After all, when she told Morticia in the first episode, "I will never fall in love, or be a housewife, or have a family" --- she sounded like someone staking out that territory already.
On Reddit, a user mentioned that Wednesday seems “possibly demisexual” because of her brief curiosity about relationships.
On the flip side, one embraced the idea: "I wish we had more aroace characters in media! (...) I’m aroace myself." Another commenter pictured her and Enid in a queerplatonic relationship. That means they could be in an intimate, non-romantic partnership that could avoid TV clichés and keep up with shippers.
There's a history to back that up, too. For years now, she has taken on the role of the family’s satirist-in-chief, poking fun at holiday consumerism, patriarchal norms, and the fake happiness that often comes with suburban life.
Making her aroace would fit into that tradition --- rejecting compulsory romance just as she'd turned away from compulsory femininity back in the 1940s!
Why does representation matter now?
The call for aroace Wednesday goes beyond just keeping the character true to oneself; it’s about ensuring everyone feels represented. GLAAD’s 2023–24 TV report shows that just one percent of queer characters on U.S. television identified as asexual, and interestingly, all four of them were on Netflix.
Most of them were guys. It’s noticeable that we’re still missing women and gender-diverse aroace characters on the scene.
This scarcity is telling. Research indicates that asexual women experience considerably higher rates of sexual hate crimes, conversion therapy, and mental health challenges. Having a popular aroace character might truly make a difference. It can help with visibility, validation, and understanding.
And it wouldn’t turn her into just a stereotype. It's already there, just that it is wrapped in sarcasm and a preference for homicide over hand-holding!
Rather than getting caught up in crushes, an aroace Wednesday could reflect her true essence: taking down institutions, calling out hypocrisy, and showing that not every heroine has to have a romance. As a Redditor said, she could be "the much darker, violent fester who shows up at holidays after long solo trips around the world serving vigilante justice and solving cold cases."
While Wenclair edits are all the rage on TikTok, wouldn’t it be something if she stayed single, unbothered, and unstoppable?
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Watch Wednesday on Netflix, with Season 2 Part 2 dropping September 3.
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