TV & Movies
Selena Gomez Is Bringing Back Wizards Of Waverly Place
The actor will play Alex Russo once again in the new show’s pilot.
Selena Gomez is putting on her wizard hat again. On Jan. 18, Deadline announced that Disney Channel has ordered the pilot of a Wizards of Waverly Place sequel series, which will be executive produced by Gomez and her onscreen brother David Henrie.
Gomez will guest-star as her character Alex Russo in the pilot, while Henrie will reprise his role of Justin as a series regular, should it get picked up for a full season. The pilot was written and executive produced by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, the creators behind another Disney Channel reboot, Raven’s Home.
Gomez confirmed the reboot by reposting Deadline’s article on her Instagram Story, writing, “So excited!!” She also shared a throwback photo of her and Henrie on the iconic orange couch in the former Russo family home. “We’re back,” she captioned the post.
Henrie posted a photo of the pilot’s script on Instagram to celebrate the announcement. “The Russo’s are excited to become a part of your family, once again, but we’ve grown,” he wrote. “2024, the year magic comes back!”
What Is The Reboot About?
In the pilot, Justin moves back home after a “mysterious incident at WizTech,” where he became principal in the 2012 Wizards series finale. As a result, he gives up his Wizard powers and embraces normal life with his wife and two sons.
“But he gets a surprise when a powerful young wizard in need of training shows up at his door,” the synopsis reads. “And Justin must embrace his past to ensure the future of the Wizard World.”
Janice LeAnn Brown is set to portray Justin’s new wizard mentee, Billie, while Mimi Gianopulos will play his wife, Giada, and Alkaio Thiele will play their oldest son.
Who Else Is Returning?
Beyond Gomez and Henrie, it’s not known whether any of the original Wizards stars will return, but most of the cast have expressed interest in doing a reboot in the past. Henrie was pitching ideas for the whole cast as far back as 2020, while Gomez has said she’d be down for a reboot multiple times.
Stars Jennifer Stone (Alex’s BFF Harper) and David DeLuise (Alex and Justin’s dad Jerry) discussed the possibility on their podcast Wizards of Waverly Pod in February.
"It would be silly not to do some kind of reboot thing, and as far as I know, Selena wants to do it,” DeLuise said, with Stone adding that a one-time reunion would also work.
“It's just a matter of having the right story to tell and timing,” she said. “I was not kidding when I said coordinating all of us together for dinner is hard enough, much less coordinating to get us together for like a week.”
However, DeLuise may not have been aware that a sequel series was underway, commenting “reboot?” on Henrie’s post. Nonetheless, if the show gets picked up for a full season, guest appearances are likely not out of the question.
