EYNTK About The Wizards Of Waverly Place Reboot

Disney Channel

Selena Gomez took to her Instagram story last week with some exciting news; a sequel series to Wizards of Waverly Place is on its way.

The spinoff show will grace Disney Channel sometime in 2024, as revealed through a TikTok from David Henrie, who played Justin Russo in the original series.

Clips of the original show are soundtracked to the iconic theme song from Selena. The caption on the video reads, ‘The Russos are excited to become a part of your family, once again, but we’ve grown. 2024, the year magic comes back!’

@davidhenrie The Russo’s are excited to become apart of your family, once again, but we’ve grown 😊 2024, the year magic comes back! 🪄 #WizardsOfWaverlyPlace #WoWP #DisneyChannel #BigAnnouncement #Disney #FYP #ForYou ♬ original sound – David Henrie

Selena will join Henrie in executive producing the show and will also return to her role of Alex Russo as a guest star in the pilot episode. Gary Marsh, who was the driving force behind the original series, has also been named as an executive producer.

The pilot episode is written by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, who were behind a reboot of another popular Disney Channel sitcom, Raven’s Home, a That’s So Raven spinoff. Similarly to that revival, the plot of this series will largely surround a grown-up Justin Russo and his family.

The first series of Wizards of Waverly Place ran from 2007-2012 and followed the Russo family, comprised of Henrie and Gomez as Justin and Alex, Jake T Austin as their brother Max, and parents Jerry and Theresa, played by David Deluise and Maria Canals-Barrera.

The series focused mainly on Alex as she navigated her teenage years with the added pressure of learning how to master her magical powers in time for the family wizard competition, where she went up against her brothers to see who was worthy of the title of family wizard.

The season finale resulted in Alex as the family wizard, and Justin, in a peculiar turn of events, allowed to keep his abilities as he assumed the role of headmaster at WizTech, a boarding school for young wizards.

The reboot picks up some 12 years later, with Justin having left his position as school principal, and therefore leaving his wizard powers behind, to have a regular life with his two sons and wife, played by Mimi Gianopulos.

However, when a mysterious incident occurs at the magical boarding school, Justin is pushed into the role of mentor to a powerful young wizard named Billie, who will be played by Janice LeAnn Brown.

While the inner child in many of us is ecstatic with the return of the Russos, some fans have expressed their apprehension at the news.

A lot of the misgivings with the new series are down to the ambiguity around who will be returning from the OG cast.

 

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David Henrie’s role is reminiscent of David DeLuise’s Jerry in the first series; a father who has given up his family wizarding title to give his wife and kids a normal life.

DeLuise, along with Jennifer Stone, who played the fabulously eclectic best friend to Alex, Harper Finkle, created a podcast called the Wizards of Waverly Pod, where they reminisced about their time on the show and revealed some behind the scenes secrets.

They have yet to comment on whether or not they will appear in the reboot, but fans of the show hope for their return.

Another person who fans are calling to be brought back is Jake T Austin. Max, the youngest Russo, was the only one who lost his powers after the wizarding competition, taking over the family sandwich shop instead.

We have always felt that Max got a bit of a raw deal, and join many fans in wondering how things turned out for him…

At the moment, all that has been announced of the new Wizards of Waverly Place is the pilot episode, so there is still some hope that our favourite characters will get involved as the series continues.

While this new version of the show will not be exactly like the one many of us grew up with, we can find some comfort in the prospect of a new generation getting that catchy intro stuck in their heads!

Words by Sorcha Lynch 

• Selena Gomez
• wizards of waverly place