After years of teasing a reboot of the popular Disney Channel show “Wizards of Waverly Place,” the new series “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” finally premiered on Disney Channel last Tuesday, Oct. 29, with the episode releasing on Disney+ the next day.
Both Selena Gomez and David Henrie, who played siblings Alex and Justin Russo, make their return in the reboot as cast members and executive producers. However, Gomez will only be in the first episode for this season. New cast members include Mimi Gianopulos as Giada Russo, and Alkaio Thiele and Max Matenko as Justin and Giada’s sons Roman and Milo respectively, along with Janice LeAnn Brown as Billie.
The first episode that premiered gave us a glimpse of where the Russos are now. Justin was fired from being the headmaster at Wiztech and now has a family of his own. As for the other Russos, the youngest sibling Max now owns a bunch of sandwich shops — though it has not yet been confirmed that Jake T. Austin will make his return — while Alex lives in the wizard world and continues to use her powers.
Justin’s new family does not know about wizards and he wants to continue to keep his past life a secret. However, Alex shows up to Justin’s house to convince him to be the young wizard Billie’s new teacher. Billie was recently kicked out of Wiztech and Alex believes that Billie has the potential to be a powerful wizard. By the end of the episode, Justin agrees to be Billie’s new teacher after some convincing and we are taken back to the original lair.
There are some things about the new series that seem a little inaccurate, such as Alex replacing her original wand with a “Wizard Tribunal badge to uphold Wizard law.” The mischievous Alex Russo we saw as kids would never do this.
There were also too many laugh tracks in my opinion, it felt like I heard one every few seconds which I do not remember hearing that often when I was younger. I also personally think it is a little odd for Justin to keep wizards a secret from his wife, but I’m sure she will find out in future episodes.
The theme song is the same as the original except it is sung by Janice LeAnn Brown instead of Selena Gomez. As much as it hurts to not hear the original again, I think this change is a good fit for the new series.
One thing I am excited to see in future episodes is for more original cast members to make their return. It has already been confirmed that David DeLuise and Maria Canals-Barrera will return as the Russo parents. Rumors have also been circulating online about Gregg Sulkin’s return as Alex’s previous werewolf boyfriend Mason. As well as two upcoming episodes being directed by Disney Channel alums Raven-Symoné of “That’s So Raven” and “The Cheetah Girls” and Danielle Fishel of “Boy Meets World.”
The first nine episodes are currently available to stream on Disney+, while more episodes will begin to be released weekly on the platform starting on Nov. 8.
3/5 stars
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @disneywizardsseries, Instagram
