Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ returns for a second season, bringing more death and destruction to the town of Jericho. Once again, Wednesday Addams finds herself at the heart of all this mayhem in the midst of navigating a new school year at Nevermore. While most of the students return to the school and new ones enrol for a chaotic year ahead, a prominent character from Season 1 is missing this time around. The character in question is Xavier Thorpe, who was a major suspect for the murders that haunted Jericho in Season 1 while also serving as a major love interest for Wednesday. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Xavier Thorpe Moved on From Nevermore
One of the more popular students at Nevermore, Xavier Thorpe, quickly came into the spotlight as he exhibited a curious interest in Wednesday. His psychic visions, which he would paint on a canvas, also made him an eccentric character, and his image as a dark, brooding, tortured artist was one of the many reasons why Wednesday thought that he could be the Hyde and the serial killer murdering people around Jericho. At the end of Season 1, the mystery surrounding the Hyde was cleared up, and Xavier even helped save the school. However, while he may not have had any issues with the way things went down, his father, Vincent Thorpe, didn’t take it too well.
Vincent was infuriated by the allegations made against his son, and so, he decided to get Xavier out of Nevermore for good. Now, the psychic, tortured artist is enrolled in the Reichenbach Academy in Switzerland. Interestingly, the repercussions of Xavier’s exit don’t stop there. When Vincent Thorpe took his son out of Nevermore, he also pulled out the funding that had made him the top donor of the academy for the Outcasts. This left a major dent in the school’s finances, which is why the new headmaster, Barry Dort, is so desperate to get funding from Wednesday’s mega-rich grandmother, Hester Frump.
While Xavier may have been forced to leave Nevermore, he did try to stay in touch with Wednesday. He sent her a phone, hoping that it would help them stay in touch. Unbeknownst to him, she dropped it in the bath, which means that that form of communication was thrown out of the window. When she didn’t reply to his texts, he sent her a letter, knowing that she would receive it once she got back to Nevermore. Accompanying the letter is a painting of a one-eyed crow. He reveals that the image came to him in a vision, and while he doesn’t know what it means, he does know that it is connected to Wednesday. He is proven right soon enough, as the crow becomes an important piece of a very morbid puzzle.
The Reason for Percy Hynes White’s Departure is Not Confirmed by Netflix
Percy Hynes White portrays Xavier Thorpe in the first season of ‘Wednesday,’ and he was expected to return as part of the main cast in the second season as well. However, in early 2024, when the cast list for Season 2 was released, White’s name was not on it. He later confirmed his departure through an Instagram post where he talked about having fun working on the first season and expressed love for the cast and their journey in the sophomore season. Netflix and the creators of ‘Wednesday’ did not give any specific reasons as to why White would not be returning to the show. A notable incident that happened in early 2023 was when White was accused of sexual assault by someone on a now-deleted post on X.
The person expressed their allegations about him assaulting her at a party while also claiming that he gave alcohol to underage girls. The actor vehemently denied any part in these allegations. In a public post, he called it a “campaign of misinformation,” saying that he and his family were doxxed because of the alleged claims. He called the rumours “false” and refused to “accept the portrayal [of him] as someone bigoted, or criminally negligent of people’s safety.” About a year after this, when White’s departure was confirmed from ‘Wednesday,’ the fans of the show speculated that the allegations may have had something to do with this. However, the show’s star, Jenna Ortega, who also co-starred with White in 2024’s coming-of-age romance ‘Winter Spring Summer or Fall,’ addressed the issue of White’s exit in an interview with Vanity Fair and called it “a weird redirect, but we’re introducing so many different characters that I think it kind of will get lost”.
The actress noted that, in the second season, Wednesday’s “world does feel slightly askew anyway.” Prior to this, it was also revealed that the second season’s plot would drop any romantic angle for the character. Ortega had previously talked about the focus on Wednesday’s love life and called it out of character for her. It makes sense then that as the second season shifts to a more character-driven form and the possibility of entertaining a romance becomes an increasingly distant idea for the protagonist, Xavier’s role in the story has been severely diminished, and it would not make sense for White to return for a character that doesn’t have much to do. Meanwhile, the actor has stayed busy with several new projects lined up for release, which include Corin Hardy’s horror film, ‘Whistle,’ starring Dafne Keen, and the drama thriller, ‘The Plan.’
Read More: Is Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Dead or Alive at the End of Wednesday Season 2?
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