Turn back time far enough, and there was an era where Elvira was everywhere once the spooky season got into swing. Especially Halloween-based commercials. By the end of the 90s, we’d transitioned over to Neve Campbell, first with The Craft and then with a million Scream movies that kept her on the radar for decades.

These days, it feels like that torch has passed to Jenna Ortega. Tim Burton’s Netflix hit Wednesday skyrocketed her to a household name as the eponymous Wednesday Addams.

All depictions of Wednesday agree that she’s a dour, colorless stoic, like her mother Morticia, but lacking the Gothic drama. Ortega’s version is slightly older and, as the main character of a serialized show, deeper than previous incarnations.

Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday isn’t emotionless, she’s controlled. While an alert, wide-eyed expressionless mask still predominates, annoyance and anger frequently crack the facade. And Ortega’s delivery slips from disinterested snark to genuine acidity. Rarer still, and something unique to this version of the character, we see insecurity, caring, and possibly even affection, each firmly stuffed back behind the mask whenever she betrays her stoic front.

And this Wednesday’s image is a carefully maintained persona. She is neither emotionless nor psychopathic. Deranged? Possibly. But she has emotions and dislikes them. Being paired with a veritable wellspring of positivity in her roommate, Enid, serves to both highlight this personality suppression and rub it raw until it shows through. Whether or not you ship the “more than roommates” angle, the fact that it comes up is evidence that this version of the character shows more emotional dimension than all previous incarnations.

But it’s not only just about playing Wednesday Addams. That might have been the wakeup call for casting directions that Jenna Ortega had something special they could use. She also got to play Astrid Deetz in the Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. (I can foresee a canonical issue if they try the name scheme for a third movie…).

As Astrid Deetz, Jenna Ortega takes over the role of creepy daughter to Winona Ryder's Lydia Deetz, who filled the same role in the original. Suspicious of her mother’s supposed psychic powers, Astrid distances herself and winds up befriending a murderous ghost of her own.

It will be interesting to watch in the coming years. The “creepy Goth girl in a horror or horror-adjacent show” niche belongs to Jenna Ortega for now. When the next time such a role pops up, will we see a new one, or will the current Queen of Halloween reign for decades like her predecessors?