Selena Gomez and David Henrie to reprise ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ roles in sequel pilot episode
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Selena Gomez and David Henrie are bringing some magic back to the Disney Channel.
The former “Wizards of Waverly Place” costars are reuniting to executive produce and appear in a new pilot episode serving as a sequel to the flagship series, Disney Branded Television announced on Thursday.
“We’re back,” Gomez wrote on her Instagram Story on Thursday, alongside a throwback photo of herself with Henrie on the original “Waverly” set.
The new pilot episode will feature Gomez reprising her character Alex Russo in a guest-starring capacity, with Henrie returning as her brother Justin. Newcomers Janice LeAnn Brown, Alkaio Thiele and Mimi Gianopulos round out the cast for the pilot.
According to an official synopsis of the sequel episode, the story will pick up “after a mysterious incident at WizTech, where an adult Justin Russo (Henrie) has left his wizard powers behind, opting for a normal, human life with his wife and two sons.”
When a “powerful young wizard in need of training shows up,” Henrie’s Justin is faced with embracing his past “to ensure the future of the Wizard World,” the synopsis read.
“The Russo’s (sic) are excited to become a part of your family, once again, but we’ve grown,” Henrie wrote on his Instagram page on Thursday. “2024, the year magic comes back!”
The original “Wizards” series aired from 2007 to 2012 and followed the Russo siblings, played by Gomez and Henrie, who navigated coming of age while perfecting their magical and wizardly powers.
Gomez’s career took off as both an actress and a musician following the original series’ debut, but she recently expressed her wish to focus more on her acting career.
“The older I get the more I’m kind of like, I would like to find something to just settle on,” she said on a recent episode of the “Smartless” podcast, adding, “I wanted to be an actress. I never really intended on being a singer full time but apparently that hobby turned into something else.”
Gomez currently stars in the Emmy-winning Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” alongside Martin Short and Steven Martin.
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