Why Percy Hynes White's Xavier Thorpe Left Wednesday

Netflix's "Addams Family" offshoot "Wednesday" brought another dose of its signature gloom and woe to its streaming home when the show's season 2, part 1 dropped on August 6, and part 2 seems destined to do the same when it arrives next month. However, fans of the show may have noticed that one key player from the show's first season is completely absent from the new episodes. Percy Hynes White's Xavier Thorpe is nowhere to be seen, which may come across as something of a surprise considering how prominent the young artist was when "Wednesday" first became a pop culture phenomenon in 2022.

As people who have seen the season 2 premiere, "Here We Woe Again," know by now, Xavier's exit was a fairly natural one. In the wake of the first season's events, his unseen father, Vincent — a once-prominent backer of the Nevermore Academy — left the school's Gala Fundraising Committee and moved Xavier to a similar school in Switzerland. This removes Wednesday Addams' (Jenna Ortega, who gets some of her best moments in "Wednesday" season 2) most prominent romantic interest from the picture, leaving the main character with only an appropriately creepy farewell painting to remember him by. 

The love triangle between Wednesday, Xavier, and Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) was easily one of the worst parts of the first season, and Ortega confirmed all the way back in 2023 that "Wednesday" season 2 is ditching the plotline. Tyler and Wednesday's relationship being more friendship-based, it's no shock that Xavier had to go. "Wednesday" co-showrunner Alfred Gough told TVLine that a comeback won't be in the cards, either: 

"We have seen the last of him. [Xavier is] at a boarding school we mentioned in season 1, Reichenbach, which is like the European version of Nevermore."

Regardless of what fans thought of Xavier as a character, it's hard to disagree with the sentiment that Wednesday Addams shouldn't really pine after romance at this moment in time. As for the future, well, Gough's interview with TVLine did confirm that Tyler will very much remain in the picture: 

"There's definitely something there, and [Tyler] can definitely twist the knife in terms of that relationship. Wednesday went down the path of romance sort of reluctantly in season 1, and she paid the price for that, so she's closing the door on that avenue of her adolescence for the time being. But when she gets together with Tyler, sparks always fly. There's something unspoken between them. We love to see them together and to explore that dynamic. Both Tyler and Jenna play it so brilliantly, and there's a lot that's unsaid in those scenes."

Since Tyler has clearly been deemed the more interesting character, it makes sense that the show opted to show Xavier the door. Of course, it's not impossible that the 2023 social media posts accusing White of sexual assault — allegations that White himself has publicly denied — factored in the decision to remove his character from the show entirely. If so, this hasn't been (and almost certainly won't be) publicly stated ... and based on the positive comments about season 2 White has posted on his Instagram stories, his exit from the show seems to have been an amiable one. 

"Wednesday" season 2, part 1 is now available for streaming on Netflix. Part 2 will arrive on September 3, 2025.