“What’s that? A Hat? Crazy, funky, junky hat!” If you’re a “Wizards Of Waverly Place” fan, you know what we’re talking about: The Hat Song! And why are we randomly humming this, you ask? Because our favourite show is going to return after all these years and we cannot contain our excitement!
Selena Gomez officially confirmed that she and David Henrie will reprise their roles as siblings Alex Russo and Justin Russo in Disney’s upcoming Wizards of Waverly Place sequel. On Thursday, Selena shared a throwback picture of her and David from the show sitting on the couch of their NYC apartment on her Instagram Story. Confirming their magical return, the actress wrote, “We’re Back.”
Disney Branded Television has ordered a pilot for the show’s sequel which ran from 2007-2012. The new show will also be executive-produced by Selena Gomez and David Henrie. The ‘Fetish‘ singer-actress will guest star in the pilot for Disney Channel as the character that helped launch her career. Henrie will be reprising his role of Justin Russo as a series regular.
Also Read: The Creator Of The Most Loved Sitcom “The Office” To Explore A New Series Similar To The OG
The Cast
He will be joined by new cast members Janice LeAnn Brown (Disney’s Just Roll with It), Alkaio Thiele (Call Me Kat) and Mimi Gianopulos (American Princess). So far, the inclusion of other former cast members including Jake T. Austin (Max Russo), Jennifer Stone (Harper Finkle), Maria Canals-Barrera (Theresa Russo), and David DeLuise (Jerry Russo) is yet to be announced.
The Sequel’s Plot
The original show, Wizards of Waverly Place followed the three Russo kids, Alex, Justin and Max, as they learned how to handle the magic they inherited from their father’s side of the family. The end goal was to become the kid that became the family wizard, all while helping their parents maintain their New York City sandwich shop.
The revival pilot comes from writers and executive producers Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas who are already working on another Disney Channel comedy spinoff, Raven’s Home. The sequel of Wizards Of Waverly Place picks up after a mysterious incident at WizTech, where an adult Justin Russo has left his wizard powers behind, opting for a normal, magic-free life with his wife and two sons.
But things change when a powerful young wizard Billie (played by Janice LeAnn Brown) shows up at his door in need of training. Justin needs to embrace his past to ensure the future of the Wizard World. Alkaio Thiele will play Roman Russo, Justin’s oldest son and Mimi Gianopulos will play Justin’s wife, Giada.
David Henrie took to his Instagram to announce the news with a picture of the script. “The Russo’s are excited to become a part of your family, once again, but we’ve grown 😊 2024, the year magic comes back! 🪄“
The Team
In addition to Gomez, Henrie, Elinoff and Thomas, Gary Marsh (Disney’s Descendants: The Rise of Red) and Andy Fickman (Race to Witch Mountain) will also be Executive Producers, with Fickman directing. The driving force behind Wizards of Waverly Place, Marsh was instrumental in getting Gomez on the network after she was discovered during an open casting call in Dallas.
This reboot of the pilot for the show finally brings a magical end to years of online chatter about a potential Wizards Of Waverly Place revival. It also fits into Disney Branded Television’s strategy of beefing up Disney Channel’s lineup of multi-camera sitcoms.
A fan pointed out how it feels odd knowing that most of the original cast didn’t even know this was happening after years of everyone saying they would come back. Though no other members of the OG Russo family have officially signed on for the reboot yet, David Henrie responded to fan concerns on Instagram. “We definitely plan on bringing back the original cast for the series order,” he promised in one comment.
Selena Gets Emotional
Last year, Selena Gomez joined DeLuise and Stone on their Wizards of Waverly Pod as she opened up about her time on the series. She got emotional as she said, “I can’t begin to tell you guys without making it such a little cry session, I felt like I was the happiest I’d been my whole life.”
“…and I recognize that because I obviously have this different attention on me that I didn’t have then. It was a really pure time” she added. Selena feels very lucky and grateful to be a part of all these other projects, but she’s never had that feeling that she had with the whole Wizards crew. The ‘Kill ‘Em With Kindness‘ singer is super excited for the Wizards Of Waverly Place sequel and so are we!
