Netflix is facing a conundrum ahead of Wednesday season two. Although everything seemed to be going swimmingly for the latest of the streamer’s original series to hit stratospheric popularity, the Addams Family reboot has unfortunately found itself mired in controversy recently. At the root of this are some deeply troubling allegations being leveled at star Percy Hynes White, who features in a lead role as Xavier Thorpe, the love interest to Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams.
Although neither Netflix nor White himself have yet to respond to the accusations from multiple women, which paint the actor as guilty of sexual assault among other crimes and label him a “predator,” angry Wednesday fans are calling for him to be removed from the series’ cast immediately. So it might be in Netflix’s best interests to follow the example of Adult Swim in its swift removal of Justin Roiland from Rick and Morty and find a new Xavier for Wednesday‘s sophomore run.
Finding a new male lead for the series is a tricky prospect, but any of these five actors would be smart choices to enroll at Nevermore Academy in Wednesday season two in White’s place.
Finn Wolfhard
The issue with replacing White in the role is that the scandal involving the original actor threatens to overshadow whoever takes over in his place. One way of circumventing that, however, is to find someone even more famous whose hiring would cause fans to lose their minds, forgetting about the recast in the process. Well, someone who would fit that bill is Stranger Things icon Finn Wolfhard. He’ll be done as Mike Wheeler shortly, once the fellow Netflix hit concludes, so he may have some time on his hands in between Ghostbusters films to swap Hawkins for Jericho.
Aidan Gallagher
Say, speaking of other Netflix hits that are ending soon, Stranger Things is also being joined in the Netflix retirement home by The Umbrella Academy. This may leave the door open for Aidan Gallagher to step into the role of Xavier Thorpe in White’s place for future seasons. Gallagher has always been a big fan-favorite in his role as Number Five, which allowed him to show off his skills by playing an adult in a child’s body, so we’re excited to see where his career takes him next. To Wednesday? Who knows.
Asher Angel
Zachary Levi naturally steals the show in the Shazam! movies as the quirky aged-up superhero of the title, but Asher Angel offers an underrated co-leading performance as the young Billy Batson, proving himself a talented actor who can bring a lot of weight to a fantasy franchise. In other words, he would be a gift to Wednesday should Tim Burton think to cast him in its second season. We can’t imagine him being as haughty as White’s Xavier, but maybe that’s for the best considering certain fans weren’t bowled over by the character’s personality in the first place.
Louis Partridge
In the wake of the allegations against White first coming to light, Wednesday watchers immediately latched on to one contender to replace him as Xavier, in particular. Namely, Louis Partridge, who plays Tewkesbury in the Enola Holmes films. Fresh in people’s memories thanks to the arrival of Enola Holmes 2 last November, Partridge has already earned his dues as one of Netflix’s current crop of teen heart-throbs so he would be a natural choice to step into Thorpe’s shoes. Even if the British actor would have to work on mastering an American accent.
Louis Hynes
From one Louis to another. Here’s a name we haven’t heard thrown into the ring as a possible new Xavier Thorpe before, but let’s argue the case anyway. Louis Hynes, previously best known for playing Klaus Baudelaire in Netflix’s Series of Unfortunate Events, would be the perfect new addition to Wednesday in season two. The aforementioned Lemony Snicket show is already extremely Burtonian in tone, so we know he’s well-suited to this kind of gothic, tongue-in-cheek material. Plus, he even had the foresight to also have “Hynes” in his name, meaning there’s a chance nobody will notice if Netflix swaps him out for White.
