Selena Gomez is returning to Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, once again reprising her iconic role as Alex Russo, one of Disney Channel's most beloved series leads.
When Alex originally appeared on screen again years after the Wizards of Waverly Place series finale, it signaled the true beginning of a Russo family revival. Although Justin, Giada, Billie, Roman, and Milo are responsible for bringing the franchise to the next generation, Gomez is the biggest piece of the puzzle that made the original Russo family what it was.
Alex's return means more comedy, family fun, potential danger, and magical mischief, especially with how season one concluded with Roman and Milo receiving their own wizard powers. Once at the center of a Family Wizard Competition herself, Alex remembers exactly how competitive it can get, and she may have some advice to give to Billie, as well as Roman and Milo, who will truly start to understand what magic is capable of when they experience it firsthand.
Gomez had originally shared the news in a story on Instagram when she excitedly teased her return.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place aimed to create its own identity while still keeping the values and theme from the original series alive. Throughout its first season, the sequel series emphasized the values of family and friendship. So far, most of the show's original characters have reprised their roles. In addition to Selena Gomez's guest appearances and David Henrie's return as a series regular, David DeLuise and Maria Canals-Barrera also reprised their roles as Jerry and Theresa Russo, helping to bridge the gap between the original series and its newest iteration.
There are still fan-favorite original characters who have yet to appear, who could add plenty of fun to the storylines, especially now that Roman and Milo have their own powers. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place's second season can raise the stakes for all of the characters in new ways as the series has expanded the wizard world and created a strong foundation for Billie's relationships with Justin, Giada, Roman, Milo, Winter, and Alex.
Just like its predecessor, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place delightfully tells stories enjoyable for children and their parents. This is a series that understands that families are formed in various ways. Although Billie may not be biologically related to the Russos, they all view Billie as their own throughout the course of the first season, just as Billie refers to herself as a Russo in the season 1 finale.
Over the course of its first season, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place does offer easter eggs to Wizards of Waverly Place, which are fun moments of nostalgia for original fans, but nothing that new viewers would get too stuck on that makes the series difficult to understand. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is not immune to Disney Channel's brand of creating somewhat goofy parents who are not always entirely aware of what their children are up to. However, for any parents that may be concerned about Disney Channel's history of making parents too goofy, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place knows how to toe the line, and in any way it may step over it, the series more than makes up for it by providing stable, loving parents to these three kids, no matter what magical mischief they may get into.
As season 2 prepares to be potentially even more dangerous than the first, as the conclusion of season one also teases the release of Silas Evilini, the son of legacy character Dr. Evilini, the Russo family will need each other more than they may anticipate. Between training for the Family Wizard Competition, questioning the prophecy that hangs over Billie's head, and any other obstacles that may come for the Russo family, if there is one thing the Russo family knows how to do, it is stick together in times of crisis and show whatever danger comes their way that they are not to be messed with, and they are not easily torn apart. Justin will have a lot more magical mischief to deal with now that he has taken his father's role as the wizard teacher to three wizards in training. But, given how he grew up with magic, Justin may be better prepared to tackle his new role than he realizes.
Wizards of Waverly Place and Wizards Beyond Waverly Place are both available to stream on Disney+, with season two of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place coming to Disney Channel and Disney+ in the fall.