Selena Gomez is casting a time-turning spell with her latest TV venture. On Thursday (Jan. 18), it was officially announced that the 31-year-old singer-actress is stepping back into her iconic role as Alex Russo in the pilot episode of a Wizards of Waverly Place reboot, a nostalgic project she’ll also produce alongside former costar David Henrie.
As first reported by Deadline, the revival will begin after “a mysterious incident at WizTech,” the magical school attended by Gomez and Henrie’s characters — Russo siblings Alex and Justin, respectively — in the original Wizards of Waverly Place series, which aired on Disney Channel from 2007 to 2012. Similar to Alex and Justin’s dad Jerry, played by David DeLuise in the original, Justin has left his wizarding powers behind in favor of a normal, human life with his wife and two sons.
But when a powerful young wizard named Billie shows up at his door in need of training to “ensure the future” of the Wizarding World, Justin must step back into the life he left behind. The Disney-ordered series pilot is being written by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas (Raven’s Home).
Gomez is so far only confirmed to appear in the reboot’s pilot, while Henrie will be a series regular. The rest of the main cast has also been set: Janice LeAnn Brown will portray Billie, and Justin’s wife and eldest son Roman will be played by Mimi Gianopulos and Alkaio Thiele, respectively.
“So excited!!” Gomez said of the show’s revival in the first of two Instagram Stories. In the second, she shared a picture with Henrie and wrote over it, “WE’RE BACK.”
Henrie was also enthusiastic in sharing the news. “The Russo’s are excited to become apart of your family, once again, but we’ve grown 😊 2024, the year magic comes back!” he tweeted.
Former Disney Branded Television head Gary Marsh and director Andy Fickman will produce alongside Gomez and Henrie. Wizards is only the latest kids’ show from the 2000s to receive the reboot treatment, following in the footsteps of Nickelodeon’s iCarly, Zoey 101 and the now-scrapped Lizzy McGuire update.
