Wednesday Wasted Its Male Protagonists, And That's a Problem
Even those who loved absolutely everything about Tim Burton's new show agree that there is something wrong with almost every male character in Wednesday.
Jenna Ortega 's Wednesday Addams meets a ton of new people when she arrives at Nevermore. She quickly (and not too enthusiastically) makes many acquaintances both among the "outcasts" and the "normies".
In both groups, she has one love interest, and that's where the show's main problem starts. Her "normie" love interest, Tyler, and her "outcast" potential boyfriend, Xavier, are both openly into her, but they don't seem to have a memorable personality so that viewers would be into them as well.
Neither Tyler nor Xavier do not stand out. While Xavier tries to pull off being mysterious and artsy, Tyler keeps awkwardly hitting on Wednesday while — spoiler alert! — secretly being a vicious monster. And even this dark fact about him does not make him a tiny bit more interesting.
Enid's love interest, a gorgon named Ajax, has received less criticism from fans in terms of his personality, but many people would still prefer him and Enid to remain friends, not lovers.
There is one male protagonist who has conquered everyone's hearts, but there is a little detail about him: he does not even have his full body with him.
The fact that Wednesday had two male love interests and both of them did not "even remotely", as put by fans, match the chemistry between her and her best friend Enid Sinclair, says a lot. A big part of the Wednesday fandom has slammed Tyler and Xavier as "bland" and "boring", and both guys' connection to Ortega's character felt "forced" to fans.
The lack of personality in male love interests has actually reminded fans of a certain another franchise.
"Tim Burton really found the male Kristen Stewart for this Wednesday Addams show to play Xavier Thorpe," Twitter user swiftiegivingup said, referring to Stewart's portrayal of the Twilight saga's main character Bella, who is often criticized for being bleak and emotionless.
Some people even went as far as saying they would prefer queerbaiting than several boring male love interests that are hard to tell apart. But the most vocal part of the fandom demands that showrunners went for making Wenclair — the pairing name for the couple of Wednesday and Enid — canon in season 2.
Wednesday premiered on Netflix on November 23.