I didn’t grow up with Foxtel as a kid and even I wasn’t immune to the absolute gorilla grip that The Wizards of Waverly Place had on the developing minds of the next generation. So, it comes as no surprise that the internet is absolutely losing it over the news that the beloved Disney show is making a comeback with a sequel series featuring the original cast members David Henrie and Selena Gomez. Well, kinda.
David and Selena will be reprising their iconic original roles, Alex and Justin Russo. But the catch is, while David will be a series regular Selena is only going to be sticking around to get things set up in the pilot.
The exciting news was originally announced via Deadline, however, Selena confirmed it on her Instagram Stories by sharing a cute AF throwback pic of her and David with the caption, “We’re back”.
In the new series, an adult Justin Russo is a family man who gave up his magical powers to have a normal life as a regular human with his wife and two kiddos. But when something bonkers happens at WizTech — the wizarding school the Russo kids attended — a young wizard named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) rocks up to his door. Billie is powerful yet untrained so Justin must train her to control and utilise her power. To do so, he must embrace his past. If he doesn’t he risks the future of the wizarding world.
Dramatic, no?
The new series also features a bunch of current Disney stars including Alkaio Thiele from Call Me Kat and Mimi Gianopulos from American Princess. The sequel is being executive-produced by Selena and David and will be written by the writers who did the That’s So Raven spin-off Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas.
Online, people are pretty stoked about the news but have some high expectations.
It’s not the first time David and Selena have hinted at a potential reboot or sequel in the past. Back in 2020, David did a sneaky Instagram Story featuring Miss Gomez which made fans go bananas in speculation. He also reunited with Wizards Of Waverly Place co-stars Jennifer Stone and Gregg Sulkin to post content on Gregg’s TikTok at the time. So thank god something is finally happening!
The original Wizards of Waverly Place ran from 2007 to 2012. It was the launching pad for Selena Gomez’s career and I think it’s so sweet that she’s revisiting the project.
