Everything to Know About the “Wizards of Waverly Place ”Revival

From the plot to the cast, here’s everything to know about the highly anticipated 'Wizards of Waverly Place' revival

After more than a decade away, the Russos are returning to their magical roots.

In January 2024, Deadline announced that the family of wizards will return in the long-speculated Wizards of Waverly Place revival. The series will see Selena Gomez reprise her role as Alex Russo — the family wizard who plays by her own rules — and David Henrie return as Alex’s brother Justin Russo, a book-smart wizard who was last seen being promoted to headmaster of WizTech.

On the same day as Deadline’s announcement, Henrie posted a picture on Instagram of the script for the pilot with a wand on top of it. He wrote in the caption, “The Russos are excited to become a part of your family, once again, but we’ve grown 😊. 2024, the year magic comes back! 🪄.”

Gomez also chimed in by reposting the Deadline story, writing that she was “so excited ❤️️,” before sharing a throwback photo of herself and Henrie in Wizards of Waverly Place with the caption, “We’re back.”

Gomez also spoke about the upcoming revival during a Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance, saying, “It’s gonna be really fun. I’m excited to bring the characters back ... I’m excited for you guys to see it.”

Here’s everything to know about the Wizards of Waverly Place revival.

When will the Wizards of Waverly Place revival be released?

While no official date has been confirmed, Henrie revealed on Instagram that the revival will commence in 2024 as he shared a photo of the pilot script with a wand on top of it.

On Feb. 4, 2024, Henrie posted a video on Instagram of the cast signing their names on the back of the set to confirm that the pilot episode had finished filming.

“That’s a wrap on the pilot of the sequel! On the original series we signed our names on the back of the set right at the beginning of the show, and now on the sequel we’re doing the same! Can’t wait for the Russos to become a part of your family, once again,” he wrote in the caption.

Which cast members are returning for the Wizards of Waverly Place revival?

Gomez won’t be a series regular, but she will be in the pilot and serve as an executive producer on the series. Henrie will be a series regular and posted a picture on Instagram of himself, Gomez and their on-screen parents — played by David DeLuise and Maria Canals-Barrera — announcing that they will make their respective returns as Jerry and Theresa Russo.

Noticeably absent from the picture was Jake T. Austin, who played Gomez and Henrie’s on-screen goofy younger brother Max Russo. However, Austin confirmed that he will be returning when he shared the photo on his Instagram Story with the text, “Wow! Am looking forward to getting together with my wizards family.”

As for Jennifer Stone — who played Alex’s comical, upbeat best friend Harper in the original series — DeLuise confirmed during an interview with original Wizards of Waverly Place writers and producers Ben Montanio and Vince Cheung on the Wizards Pod — hosted by himself and Stone — that he had had discussions with Henrie about both of their characters’ returns.

“David has said after the pilot, you know, which apparently now when you do a pilot you don’t have the back nine already, so once that happens I think Jerry Russo and Harper down the road could come back because we’re in that world,” DeLuise said. “I think it’s going to be successful and I think everything is going to work out.”

“As David said, ‘if it makes sense down the line,’ so we’ll see,” Stone continued. “I think to make a sequel or revival successful you have to tie in the original that people fell in love with and then create its own thing and kind of interweave those together, so it will be interesting to see how he pulls it off and I’m excited to see what he does with it.”

When fans became concerned about whether the original cast would return after DeLuise commented “Reboot?” on Henrie’s post announcing the new show, Henrie reassured them. "We definitely plan on bringing back the original cast for the series order 🙌❤️," Henrie replied to a comment.

Which new cast members are joining the Wizards of Waverly Place revival?

The series will also welcome new stars Janice LeAnn Brown as the powerful, young wizard Billie, Alkaio Thiele as Justin’s eldest son Roman and Mimi Gianopulos as Justin’s wife Giada. Brown — who will be the series lead — currently stars in Disney's Just Roll With It, while Thiele recently appeared in the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat and Gianopulos is best known for her supporting role in the 2012 romantic comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

What is the Wizards of Waverly Place revival about?

According to an official synopsis, the series “picks up after a mysterious incident at WizTech, where an adult Justin Russo has left his wizard powers behind, opting for a normal, human 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… and Justin must embrace his past to ensure the future of the Wizard World.”

When the original series ended, Justin was headmaster of WizTech — a wizarding school similar to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter franchise — and still had his powers, but it appears that is no longer the case.

Within the rules of the Wizards of Waverly Place world, it is stated that a wizard must give up their powers to marry a non-magical mortal, which explains why Justin would have no powers.

Where can I watch the Wizards of Waverly Place revival?

Although there has been no official announcement as to where the revival will be streaming, the original Wizards of Waverly Place series, 2009’s The Wizards of Waverly Place Movie and 2013’s TV special The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex are streaming on Disney+.

Disney Channel’s official Instagram account also posted a picture of the new series’ pilot script with the caption, "📍Waverly Place.”

Who is directing, writing and producing the Wizards of Waverly Place revival?

Henrie and Gomez will both serve as executive producers on the new series. Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas — writers and executive producers of another Disney Channel revival, Raven’s Home, based on 2003’s That’s So Raven — are confirmed to be executive producers on the new series and writers of the pilot.

Executive producer of Disney’s upcoming Descendants: The Rise of the Red film Gary Marsh — who was formerly president and chief creative officer of Disney Branded Television — will also be an executive producer for the new Wizards of Waverly Place series.

Andy Fickman — who directed Disney’s 2009 film Race to Witch Mountain starring Dwayne Johnson — will serve as the series’ director and sixth executive producer.

How did the Wizards of Waverly Place leave off?

When we last saw Justin Russo in the Wizards of Waverly Place series finale, he had been named headmaster of WizTech after Professor Crumb’s retirement announcement. This followed a dramatic competition between Max, Justin and Alex to determine which one of them would get to keep their powers and become the family wizard.

Justin won the competition, but revealed he only won because Alex helped him get his foot unstuck from a root so he gave up his powers so she could be named the family wizard. Despite Alex being named the family wizard, Justin had his powers reinstated for his new role at WizTech.

The entire cast — except for Henrie — returned for the 2013 TV special The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, which is where we last saw all the characters except for Justin. Justin’s absence was explained by him being too busy as headmaster of WizTech, but his name and presence were felt in the special.

Alex was finding it difficult to take on the responsibility of being the family wizard, while her father implied that Justin would have been more responsible. In an effort to eliminate the parts of her that people didn’t like, she performed a spell to banish what she felt were the bad aspects of her personality, but accidentally split herself into two separate people: good Alex and bad Alex.

Eventually, Alex reversed the spell and kept her status as the family wizard due to her loyalty to her best friend Harper, who was dating Zeke Beakerman when the series ended. Alex was still dating her werewolf boyfriend Mason Greybeck while Justin was dating his vampire girlfriend Juliet — played by Bridgit Mendler. Max didn’t get to keep his powers, and inherited the family sandwich shop — the Waverly Sub Station.

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