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Growing up as a kid in the 2000s meant running home from school and tuning into whatever show that was playing on Disney Channel. One of those shows that shaped many of our childhoods was none other than the iconic and magical Wizards of Waverly Place. And now the characters we all know and love are back with new crazy shenanigans in Disney+ reboot Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.
In the original show, Alex (Selena Gomez) was not a typical lead who saved the day and knew exactly what to do. She made mistakes and at times, could be too stubborn for her own good. Despite her laidback attitude, Alex’s mischievous adventures made us feel like we were unstoppable. Her funny dynamics with her siblings were more than relatable with Justin (David Henrie) as the smart, trustworthy kind of uptight eldest sibling, Alex, as the middle child with a rebellious spirit, and Max (Jake T. Austin) as the funny and a bit dumb younger brother. Family was the heart and essence of the show. No matter the intensity of their fights or how much trouble they were in, they all loved each other and had each other’s backs in their times of need. David Henrie even coined this specific bond the “Russo family values.”
Fast forward 12 years, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place makes it clear that everything is going to be “anything but a breeze” for Justin Russo—who is now a middle school Vice Principal in Staten Island. The new series follows Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a strong young wizard— who with the help of Alex— barges in Justin’s mundane life with his two boys, Roman (Alkaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko), and his wife Giada (Mimi Gianopulos). Alex, in an attempt to help Billie after she’s been kicked out of WizTech, has positioned Justin to be her new wizard teacher. There is no one Alex trusts more than Justin to take on such a responsibility but problems arise as Justin may not have been totally honest with his family about his past. This new situation inspires him to resume his life as a wizard, pulling him out of retirement and forcing him to face the mistakes he’s made in the past. However, Billie’s exuberant personality may be more similar to Alex’s than Justin had anticipated.
David Henrie shared that Billie has grown up differently than the Russo’s and is not used to the Russo family values at all which is going to create a very fun and interesting dynamic on screen. Billie’s character opens up a whole new world of relatability for new viewers and representation that was so dear to me as a young Latina when watching Alex and the rest of the Russos in Wizards of Waverly Place.
There were also certain moments in the new show that original fans may love. When StyleCaster mentioned mannerisms or lines that David Henrie and his co-star Selena Gomez had in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place that resembled their younger selves, Henrie said “Thank you. We worked hard on that!” It is clear that there is much love and effort going into this age of magic so this new series could be what we’ve all “wanted in our wildest dreams.”
Wizards of Waverly Place has always had such a unique cultural impact, and I remember the episode with Shakira and Selena as a significant moment for me, because it was a time where I felt really represented on TV. Given that Justin is half Mexican and half Italian, will we see more of that Latino or Italian heritage explored in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place?
That’s a great question. I think we did so many things to represent our Mexican heritage on the show, with the quinceanera episode and others that I think we’re really meaningful to folks. My character married Giada, who is Italian. In real life, she’s Greek, but she’s Italian in the show so I guess our kids would be like, three quarters Italian and a quarter Mexican. We got a spicy mix, don’t we? That’s some good food right there. I think we definitely want to explore that. We haven’t yet, but I’d imagine we will, because it is a part of our blood. I would imagine in Mexico, there are cool wizard sites for us to see or check out, which we’ve never done before. I don’t know why we haven’t done that.
We definitely should do that, but right now we’re really focusing on this new element in this character of Billie. She is an incredible talent, by the way, and she’s a new mix to the Russo bunch. So if you’re familiar with the Russo values, themes and feelings we bring in a character who contrasts that, who doesn’t understand that at all, and has not known stability or family or what those things can do in your life, so she’s mistrusting of us. So it really is a nice engine to kind of reactivate the themes of the world. And you know, Janice is African American, so we’re representing another demographic on the show in a nice way. So we really are following in the mold of the old but kind of in a new way.
In the first episode, it’s revealed that Billie is destined to save the world–what was going through Justin’s head when Alex tells him he has to train Billie?
You know, I call the first season for Justin of this new show, like his rebirth. Because when you meet him, his family knows nothing about him. They don’t know anything about his magical past. They don’t know anything–that he was a wizard or his past at WizTech or any of that stuff. So when you meet Justin, you’re going, “What happened? Why? How? Huh?” which I love. Throughout the first season, we reveal that there was this kind of tragic incident in the past that caused Justin to walk away from it all, and Billie rebirths this past for him, and it’s welcomed to him, because I think he never felt settled in what happened. He wants to welcome that old piece of him back into his life, and he wants to be upfront and honest with his family, so she really does reawaken a lot inside of him that I think is a very healthy thing for his character.
In the original series, wizards are born with magic but they need to wear something to control it before their powers fully develop at age 12. Now that Justin is Billie’s teacher and his sons, Milo and Roman, are learning that magic exists, will the series explore their own abilities as it progresses? Did Justin have them wear anything to help manage their magic as they grew up?
Ooh, that’s a good question. I think you’re gonna have to watch and see what happens, because I think you’re smart and you’re asking the right questions, and you’ll have to watch and see what happens.
Justin is now a vice principal at a middle school, which is a shift from the high school setting of the original series. Was there a specific reason behind choosing a middle school setting this time around?
Our characters are a little younger, so I think we’re factoring that into the equation. I’m sure as they get older, we’ll probably figure out a way to expand it or change it. But by the way, did you catch the name of the new school? It’s called Greenwald Middle School, and that’s the name of the creator of the show, Todd Greenwald, from back in the day. So we named the school after the creator of Wizards of Waverly Place.
I saw you posted this week with Greg Sulkin who played Mason (in the original show). What can you tell me about that?
Yeah, Greg got to come and visit. Since we started the show, Greg has become and remains a very good friend of mine. I spent a lot of time with him, and he was in town. He was back from London. I was like, “Dude, you got to come check out the set.” So he came and visited and saw it all, and he was just smiling the whole time reliving the memories.
Well, I would love to have every character back on the show, it’s just about doing it right. I want the care that we put into the first episode with me and Alex to be put into every character that comes back, so that way it doesn’t feel cheap. You know, I think the worst thing we could do is just throw someone in there, and then fans will feel like we didn’t understand how much they care about these people. So we want to do it tastefully every step of the way.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place premieres on October 29 on Disney Channel and will stream on Disney + the next day.
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Stephanie Andrade
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