While Tim Burton's Netflix series Wednesday focuses on the titular Addams Family teenager, the series is under fire on social media for how it depicts people of color.Some viewers took to Twitter to blast Wednesday's racial undertones and characterization of its Black characters after the show premiered on Netflix on Nov. 23. The issue centers on how the Black actors featured in the Wednesday ensemble cast were portrayed as villains and bullies of the show's lead character, Wednesday Addams. Director Burton is also accused of racism as Netflix is called tone-deaf by failing to see any issue with such portrayals. Specifically, the controversy involves the casting of Nigerian actor Joy Sunday (Bianca Barclay) as a mean girl at Nevermore Academy and Iman Marson (Lucas Wilson) as a bully and the son of a corrupt mayor. Wilson's father in the show also owns Pilgrim Land, a controversial decision in itself given the historic tensions between Native Americans and Pilgrims.RELATED: Critics Love Jenny Ortega's Wednesday Addams But Say the Series Misses the Point

Tim Burton's Racial Controversies

The accusations towards Burton of racism are nothing new, considering comments he made in 2016 regarding representation while promoting Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, responding to off-hand comments by Secret Invasion star Samuel L. Jackson, who claimed he was the only Black person in a Tim Burton film. Burton cited watching The Brady Bunch as a child before suggesting they became politically correct when including Black and Asian characters. Those remarks, among others when addressing Jackson's comments, garnered significant backlash at the time.

The plot of the Netflix comedy chronicles Wednesday Addams in her attempt to perfect her psychic abilities and stop a local killing spree while solving the long-standing mystery surrounding her parents. After being involved in a violent revenge incident in her last school, she is sent to the eccentric-accommodating Nevermore Academy, where she makes friends and foes there along the way.

RELATED: Addams Family Fans Have Fallen in Love With Jenna Ortega's Wednesday

Wednesday is the first Tim Burton project featuring a person of color as its lead actor. Indeed, the show's central character, Wednesday Addams, is played by Jane the Virgin and Stuck in the Middle star Jenna Ortega, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage. The Addams Family adaptation also features Magnolia and Boogie Nights actor Luis Guzmán (Gomez Addams), who is Puerto Rican. The series also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones (Morticia Addams), Christina Ricci (Marilyn Thornhill) and Gwendoline Christie (Larissa Weems). Meanwhile, Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, the co-creators of Smallville, are the series' showrunners.

Wednesday Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix. While nothing has been confirmed, Gough and Millar have teased a second season.

Source: Twitter