Wizards of Waverly Place Sequel in the Works for Disney Channel

Perhaps everything is as it seems, after all. After years of speculation and fans pining for a reboot, Wizards of Waverly Place stars Selena Gomez and David Henrie who played the titular characters Alex and Justin Russo, will reprise their roles for a sequel at Disney. The pilot, executively produced by Gomez and Henrie, picks up with Justin who has turned in his powers for a more normal life with his wife and two sons. However, once something goes mysteriously awry at WizTech, a young and powerful wizard named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) shows up at his door in need of training. Justin must then embrace his past in order to save all of Wizard World.

Wizards of Waverly Place ran for five seasons from 2007-2012 on Disney Channel. Following the Russo family -- Alex, Justin, Max (Jake T. Austin) and their parents Jerry Russo (David DeLuise) and Theresa (Maria Canals-Barrera) -- who own a sandwich shop (Waverly Sub Station) in New York. While they are helping run the family business, they are also a powerful family of wizards. After school and work, the siblings receive training from their father in their secret lair so they learn how to use their magic responsibly. Most of the time, Alex is the one who chooses to use her powers for "fun" and it gets under Justin's skin. 

The dynamic from the fictional family allows for a lot of comedic situations, and the popularity of the show helped launch Gomez into stardom with her music career backed by the Disney machine. She has since starred in films like Spring Breakers and Dolittle and the hit Hulu show Only Murders in the Building. Henrie has acted on and off since the end of the popular Disney series, with credits for How I Met Your Mother and Netflix's A Tale Dark and Grimm. Alongside Gomez, Henrie, and Brown the cast includes Alkaio Thiele (Call Me Kat) who plays Russo's oldest son Roman Russo and and Mimi Gianopulos (American Princess) as Russo's wife, Giada.

Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas who are behind the That's so Raven spinoff, Raven's Home, are penning and executively producing the series alongside Gomez, Henrie, Gary Marsh (Descendants: The Rise of Red) and Andy Fickman (Race to Witch Mountain). The sequel comes hot on the heels of the Lizzie McGuire reboot which was canned in 2022 due to alleged creative differences. Series star Hilary Duff has stated she believed Disney got "spooked" with some of the subject matter, despite Lizzie now being in her 30's. Nickelodeon has also dipped into the revival pool, bringing back iconic childhood favorites like the iCarly revival which ran for 3 seasons and the Zoey 102 film that released on Paramount+ in 2023. 

What do you think about Disney reviving Wizards of Waverly Place? Let us know in the comments!