Cast your mind back to 1999, when Director M. Night Shyamalan released his best-ever movie, The Sixth Sense. It starred Bruce Willis as a psychologist, and an out-of-nowhere child superstar, Haley Joel Osment, whose character played out that famous line: "I see dead people".
Well, add a quarter of a century and you might not immediately have recognised Haley Joel Osment's appearance in Wednesday season 2, which was quick to launch itself back to Netflix's no.1 spot – where it looks set to remain. He sure does still see dead people, though, just for very different reasons.
Indeed, Wednesday's second season could prove even more popular than the first season and its 1.7 billion hours streamed to date. It's being released in two parts across its eight episode total, with four available to stream now, and the final four coming from 3 September.
Wednesday S2 trailer
Who else stars in Wednesday S2?
That's one of the things that's surprised and delighted me about the latest Wednesday series. As you can see from the trailer above, the much-admired Steve Buscemi picks up a major role as Nevermore Academy's new head, Principal Dort. Gotta love a bit of Steve.
The familiar famous faces don't stop there, though, with Billie Piper making a prominent appearance as the Academy's Head of Music, Isadora Capri. Many will know her from pop star fame, to breakthrough roles in Dr Who and Secret Life of a Call Girl.
Even Christopher Lloyd, famed for his Back to the Future appearances, takes up the role of Professor Orloff, a disembodied head in a tank. Very creepy, very much Wednesday – and showing that Tim Burton's Executive Producer hand being in the mix helps to maintain the consistency of the show.
Is Wednesday S2 as good as before?
With Wednesday being Netflix's most popular series ever, there's a lot of pressure on the second season to perform well. The show's two-part release schedule has riled some viewers, but it's not a long wait – unlike some of Netflix's other releases.
General audience reception has been strong, too, with the show maintaining an 81% critics' rating on aggregation site, Rotten Tomatoes. That's a mite lower, at 79%, for the verified audience score – but it's a close-run difference.
I'm loving how playful the show remains, despite its dark undertones and content, with Haley Joel Osment's appearance a quick highlight. I've no doubt there'll be plenty more stars to look out for in the coming episodes, too, adding to its entertainment factor.
