Wizards Beyond Waverly Placereboots a beloved Disney show, but the new cast has a lot in common with their predecessors fromWizards of Waverly Place. It’s been more than a decade sinceWizards of Waverly Placeended in 2012, and the subsequent one-off special,The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, but now, the show is finally back. However, considering the time between the shows, the cast has grown up, and as a result, it wasn’t possible to bring everyone back again.
Despite this,the new series,Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, feels eerily similar to the original show, and for good reason. Throughout the series, several new characters are introduced alongside David Henrie, who returned to reprise hisrole as Justin Russo throughoutWizards Beyond Waverly Place. And while the characters may be new, it seems the show has repeated the formula for the earlier success, simply casting new characters in the roles of the originals.
6Billie = Alex Russo
Actors: Janice Leann Brown & Selena Gomez
Front and center,Wizards Beyond Waverly Placeneeded a strong female lead, who is able to exude cool energy, andhas a particular talent for magic. In the original show,Selena Gomez tackled the role of Alex Russo, the only daughter in the Russo family, and the most gifted magician of the kids. Despite her laidback and occasionally lazy attitude, Alex was always able to find a way to use magic to get what she wanted. Unfortunately, it usually backfired, but she generally learned her lesson after the first mistake.
InWizard Beyond Waverly Place, Janice LeAnn Brown slots perfectly into this role. While she may not be a Russo by blood, Justin is more than willing to welcome her into his family, and accepts the role of training her to harness her gifts.Billie grew up in the Wizarding World, so she has an advantage over Alex due to her early exposure to magic, but her rebellious nature caused her to be dismissed by every wizard tutor who worked with her. Despite her incredible gift, she is rejected, and feared, due to her reckless use of her magical abilities.
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So, it’s fitting that Billie was picked up by Alex, who admired her kindred spirit. Alex dropped Billie off to Justin’s home, and now, she has settled into the role of a sister to Roman and Milo.She is sassy, disobedient, and quick to use magic even when she shouldn’t, but there’s no denying that her gift is special. Billie has a lot to learn, but with a great teacher like Justin, her odds of successfully mastering her powers is sky-high.
5Roman Russo = Justin Russo
Actors: Alkaio Thiele & David Henrie
Meanwhile, Roman, Justin and Giada’s oldest son, is an eccentric young man. Unlike most of his peers,he gets a thrill from studying, doing tests and quizzes, and he shares a similar sense of humorto hisquirky dad, Justin Russo. It’s fitting then that Roman should be the clear replacement for the uptight older brother who wants to stick to the rules, but is often easily persuaded to use magic to improve situations that could be managed without it.
In the original series, Justin Russo was seen as the buzzkill, who tried to make Alex see when she was making poor choices, but usually just ended up being dragged along on adventures. Justin felt strongly about academia, and spent considerably more time than either of his siblings studying, abiding by the rules, and following the advice of their parents, Jerry and Theresa.
Meanwhile, Roman seems to have many of these characteristics in an even more exaggerated and comical way.Roman doesn’t just enjoy homework and rule following, he loves it. Billie causes Roman constant frustration with her willingness to break the rules and essentially cheat her way to popularity. However, Roman, like Justin, often finds himself dragged along for the ride, and occasionally lets down his uptight guard in order to enjoy the moment.
4Milo Russo = Max Russo
Actors: Max Matenko & Jake T. Austin
InWizards of Waverly Place, Max Russois the youngest child in the family, and due to his youth, he often missed out on adventures that his brother and sister had. However, Max didn’t feel left out or upset by his siblings' closeness. Instead, he pursued his own passions and found plenty of ways to make his own fun. While Alex and Justin were out getting into trouble,Max would often work on his own recipesfor sandwiches, and he had a fun and quirky sense of humor.
Likewise, Milo, Justin’s youngest son, is at a different school to Roman and Billie. While he adds comic relief and enjoys hanging out with them,Milo has his own life, and his own witty sense of humor. He’s one of the funniest members of the Russo family, and he quickly forgets things, just like his uncle Max. It makes sense that they are both related, and potentially, as the series continues, he could meet with, presumably, his favorite uncle.
3Winter = Harper Finkle
Actors: Taylor Cora & Jennifer Stone
Winter is a close friend of Roman’s from school, but as soon as Billie arrives, Billie makes a big effort to position herself as Winter’s new friend. While Billie is seen as cool and laidback, Winter is generally the opposite.Winter is not very popular, but she is very bright and studious. However, despite her academic knowledge, she can be forgetful and quirky in a way that makes her appear naive.
Her closest counterpart from the original show is Harper Finkle, Alex’s best friend, who has a tendency to overshare, can be forgetful and naive, and she has a huge crush on Justin. However, the crush aspect has yet to translate toWizards Beyond Waverly Place, but as the show continues, there is no telling where these characters could end up. But however their stories resolve, the similarities with these earlier characters is too obvious to ignore.
Winter’s role as a mortal best friend who is quickly trusted with insider knowledge about magic echoes the original show.
Winter’s role as a mortal best friendwho is quickly trusted with insider knowledge about magic echoes the original show. And while her friendship with Billie was fast tracked to appear more similar to Alex’s and Harper’s relationship, the show has made it appear as though Winter and Billie have been friends for forever. She is also used as a character who can provide comic relief as she stumbles into odd magical situations, just like Harper.
2Giada Russo = Theresa Russo
Actors: Mimi Gianopulos & María Canals Barrera
Standing behind a family of dysfunctional, inexperienced wizards,Wizards of Waverly Placehad Theresa Russo.The adoring mother ofthe three Russo kidshad no previous experience with magic until marrying into Jerry’s family. Then, when her kids started to display magical powers, it was up to her husband to begin training them to use these gifts in positive and healthy ways. Meanwhile, Theresa worked hard at the sandwich shop and continued to earn money for the family. Of course, Jerry also ran the shop, but it fell to Theresa to manage things when Jerry was otherwise occupied.
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For Giada, she was never made aware of Justin’s past wizardry until Billie arrived in their home and things started to get weird.Giada is a loving and caring mother, who instantly extends her kindness and affection to young Billie who they welcomed into their home, but she is also no fool. Within a short time, Giada was able to learn some of the secrets being kept from her, and she remained remarkably OK with the updates. Considering her day job sees her work as an investigative reporter, Giada also has a highly developed work ethic, pushing to provide for her family alongside her husband, Justin.
Both Theresa and Giada come from a family with a strong sense of culture, identity, and hard work. Both characters have boundless love for those around them, but they are not easily fooled, often digging deeper to find the truth. They also have no previous relationship to magic, but as kind, supportive mothers, they believe in their kids and push them to be the best and brightest wizards they can be.
1Justin Russo = Jerry Russo
Actors: David Henrie & David DeLuise
And finally, Justin Russo is the only character who appears as a series regular onbothWizards of Waverly PlaceandWizards Beyond Waverly Place. Whilehis primary role in the original show was to be a voice of reason, and a strict rule follower who tried to guide and encourage others, especially his sister Alex, to avoid breaking the rules and instead approach magic in the right way, his role in the reboot is not too dissimilar. However, he is now a father, and he works as a principal in a middle school.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Placehas a 100% rating onRotten Tomatoes.
Justin was in the rare position that he was allowed to keep his wizard powers due to the fact that he was hired to become the youngest principal of Wiztech of all time. His studious nature, and his incredible talents with learning, teaching, and accurately conducting magic, made him a great fit for the role. However, he was ultimately dismissed andended up in a situation where he left his old life with magic behind in order to pursue a normal life, with a mortal wife, and kids of his own.
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This story echoes that of Jerry Russo, who was a talented young wizard that managed to win his magic and become the family wizard. However, he gave up his magic to his brother in favor of pursuing a normal life with a mortal woman, Theresa. Years later, when his kids were of age, Jerry became their magic teacher, guiding them through their learning, and trying to keep them all on track when they were likely to make mistakes. In this way, the original characters live on in the new series, with their essential characteristics being imbued in the new cast ofWizards Beyond Waverly Place.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
Cast
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place follows adult Justin Russo, who leads a normal life until his sister Alex asks for help with a young wizard-in-training. Justin must revive his magical skills to mentor the trainee while balancing his family life and safeguarding the Wizard World’s future.
