After a successful 21-episode run, The Hollywood Reporter shared that Disney Channel and Disney+ renewed Wizards Beyond Waverly Place for season 2. The David Henrie-led series continues to attract old and new Wizards fans: "I'm overwhelmed by all the love for the series and ready to keep serving this new generation of Wizards fans with more Russo magic, while continuing to deliver to big warm hug to the original fans," David Henrie shared in a statement about the season 2 renewal.
Wizards of Waverly Place consumed the late 2000s for five years, spanning four magical seasons between 2007 and 2012 and spawning one movie in 2009. Disney's hit Wizards series followed the Russo Family as Jerry Russo (David DeLuise) trained his three children, Justin (David Henrie), Max (Jake T. Austin), and Alex (Selena Gomez), to prepare them for their family wizard competition to see who would become the Russo Family Wizard. In the comfort of their lair, Jerry, who gave up his family wizard powers to marry Theresa (Maria Canals-Barrera), a mortal, teaches his children essential to complicated spells. Along with magic, the family must try to blend in and keep the wizard world a secret.
Over the years, every time Selena Gomez and David Henrie ended up on TikTok together, they discussed ideas of where their wizard characters, Alex and Justin Russo, would be as adults. At that point, the series had long been over, and Disney Channel and Disney+ were filled with reruns of their beloved show—a childhood show that carried into adulthood for many fans.
According to the recovered 2017 TikTok clip, Gomez and Henrie wanted to "bring back Wizards of Waverly Place" where "Justin is running the college and has kids," "Alex is now 25, finding herself, and single," and "Max has yet to find himself and makes sub sandwiches on the street because they lost the substation." Seven years later, in March 2024, Disney ordered the series where Gomez and Henrie are executive producers, while Henrie stars as a series regular and Gomez makes guest appearances.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place finds "an adult Justin Russo (Henrie) living a normal, mortal life with his wife (Mimi Gianopulos) and kids (Alkaio Thiele and Max Matenko) — until his sister Alex (guest star and EP Selena Gomez) brings a young wizard named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) to him for training. Notable guest stars include Selena Gomez as Alex Russo alongside Maria Canals-Barrera and David DeLuise as Justin and Alex's parents."
After being fired from Wiztech for an unfortunate accident, Justin marries Giada and takes a job as a middle school principal, where his sons, Roman and Milo, attend school with Roman's best friend, Winter (Taylor Cora). The Wizard World stays hidden in Justin's past until Alex randomly shows up at his house on his 34th birthday with a favor. With the world's fate resting in the hands of a young wizard, Billie, who matches the trickster acts of a young Alex Russo, only Justin can steer Billie in the right direction. Longtime fans know it probably took a lot for Alex to ask her big brother for help, but their sibling rivalry makes them the best. After the family wizard competition, fans are thrilled to see the siblings getting along and helping each other.
Wizards begins production sometime in April 2025 in Los Angeles. Fans hope we'll see Billie and the Russos back on our screens later this year or early 2026. David Henrie promises, “So many surprises are in store for this second season. It’s going to be big, so stay tuned.” His promise leaves room for speculation: Will Max (Jake T. Austin) and Harper (Jennifer Stone) return to the series? We'll have to wait and see what Henrie, Gomez, and Disney have up their sleeves.