Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Reunites (and Reinvents) the Russos — Grade It, Get Scoop on What’s Next
The Russo family returned to Disney Channel on Tuesday, and it’s fair to say that things have never been less what they seem.
Picking up where Wizards of Waverly Place left off more than a decade ago, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place reintroduces fans to former teen wizard phenom Justin Russo (played by David Henrie), now a married father of two living on Staten Island. We learn in the premiere that he has been living a mortal, magic-free existence ever since he was fired as the youngest headmaster of WizTech over something referred to as “the unicorn incident.”
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“It was really important to us that we grab the audience in that first episode, to where you’re going, ‘What happened? What unicorn incident? Justin would never!’ And all of that is great, because it plays out throughout the whole first season,” Henrie, who also executive-produces the show, tells TVLine.
Justin’s peaceful life in suburbia is rocked by the arrival of his younger sister Alex (guest star Selena Gomez, also an EP on the project). She’s the first character from the original series to visit Justin, but Henrie promises that she won’t be the last.
“It would be a joy to have everyone come back,” Henrie says, adding that it’s just a matter of fitting guest appearances into people’s busy schedules. It has already been confirmed that David DeLuise will return as Justin’s dad, and after hearing Max’s name mentioned in the premiere (he’s apparently a billionaire now?!), we have to imagine that Jake T. Austin won’t be far behind.
At Alex’s request, Justin agrees to house and tutor a young wizard named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), which becomes a far bigger task when Alex mentions that Billie is prophesied to save the world someday. No big. Justin attempts to keep his two worlds apart, but before the end of the second episode, everyone in his family — wife Giada (Mimi Gianopulos), and sons Roman (Alkaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko) — is on the same page.
These first two episodes leave us with a number of burning questions, most of which pertain to the prophecy about Billie saving the world. But here’s something else we’re dying to know: Will she remain the only magical resident of the Russo household, or will Justin’s sons wield wands of their own someday?
“It’s a great question, one we’ve thought a lot about,” series star and executive producer David Henrie tells TVLine. He doesn’t want to spoil whether Roman and Milo will follow in their father’s magical footsteps, but he does confirm that the show “will answer [that question] in the first season.”
New episodes of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place will continue to drop two episodes per week on Disney Channel, and you can look ahead at the first eight episodes on Disney+ beginning Wednesday, Oct. 30. Is the sequel series living up to your expectations thus far? Grade the premiere below, then drop a comment with your thoughts. We know you’ve got ’em!
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