Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
reboots a beloved Disney show, but the new cast has a lot in common with its predecessors. Wizards of Waverly Place
. It has been more than a decade since Wizards of Waverly Place ended in 2012, and the subsequent one-off special, Return of the Sorcerers: Alex vs.but now the show is finally back. However, considering the interval between shows, the cast grew and, as a result, it was not possible to bring everyone back.
Despite this, the new series, Wizards Beyond Waverly Placefeels 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 his role as Justin Russo. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. And while the characters may be new, it feels like the series has repeated the formula of the previous hit, simply casting new characters in the roles of the originals.
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Billie=Alex Russo
Front and center, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place needed a strong female protagonist, who was capable of exuding cold energy and had a knack for magic. In the original show, Selena Gomez tackled the role of Alex Russo, the only daughter of the Russo family and the children’s most talented magician. Despite his laid-back and occasionally lazy attitude, Alex always managed to find a way to use magic to get what he wanted. Unfortunately, this usually backfired, but she usually learned her lesson after the first mistake.
In Wizard Beyond Waverly PlaceJanice LeAnn Brown fits this role perfectly. Although she may not be a Russian 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 got her fired by every wizard tutor who worked with her. Despite her incredible gift, she is shunned and feared due to her reckless use of her magical abilities.
So, it’s fitting that Billie was chosen by Alex, who looked up to her soulmate. Alex left Billie at Justin’s house and now she has taken on the role of sister to Roman and Milo. She’s 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 chances of successfully mastering her powers are extremely high.
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Roman Russo = Justin Russo
Meanwhile, Roman, Justin and Giada’s eldest son, is an eccentric young man. Unlike most of his peers, he gets emotional studying, taking tests, and quizzes, and shares a similar sense of humor to his quirky father, Justin Russo. It’s fitting, then, that Roman is the clear stand-in for the uptight older brother who wants to follow the rules but is often too 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 realize when she was making bad choices, but usually ended up getting dragged into adventures. Justin had a strong connection to academia and spent considerably more time than any of his siblings studying, obeying the rules, and following the advice of his parents, Jerry and Theresa.
However, Roman seems to have many of these characteristics in an even more exaggerated and comical way. Roman doesn’t just like homework and following rules, 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 his tense guard down to enjoy the moment.
Milo Russo =Max Russo
In Wizards of Waverly PlaceMax Russo is the youngest child in the family and, due to his youth, he often missed out on his brother and sister’s adventures. However, Max didn’t feel left out or upset by the brothers’ closeness. Instead, he pursued his own passions and found many ways to have fun. While Alex and Justin were getting into trouble, Max often worked on his own sandwich recipes and had a fun, quirky sense of humor.
Likewise, Milo, Justin’s youngest son, is at a different school than Roman and Billie. Although he adds comic relief and enjoys hanging out with them, Milo has his own life and his own witty sense of humor. He is one of the funniest members of the Russo family and is quick to forget things, just like his uncle Max. It makes sense that the two are related and potentially as the series continues he could probably meet up with his favorite uncle .
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Winter = Harper Finkle
Winter has been a close friend of Roman’s since school, but once Billie arrives, Billie goes to great lengths to position herself as Winter’s new friend. While Billie is seen as cool and laid-back, Winter is often the opposite. Winter is not very popular, but she is very intelligent and studious. However, despite her academic knowledge, she can be forgetful and quirky in a way that makes her seem 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 not yet translated into Wizards Beyond Waverly Placebut as the show goes on, there’s no telling where these characters might end up. But whatever the resolution of their stories, the similarities to these earlier characters are too obvious to ignore.
Winter’s role as the mortal best friend, quickly entrusted with insider knowledge about magic, echoes the original show. And although her friendship with Billie was accelerated to seem more similar to Alex and Harper’s relationship, the show made it seem like Winter and Billie had been friends forever. She is also used as a character who can provide comic relief when faced with strange magical situations, much like Harper.
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Giada Russo = Theresa Russo
Behind a family of dysfunctional and inexperienced wizards, Wizards of Waverly Place there was Theresa Russo. The lovely mother of the three Russo children had no previous experience with magic until she married into Jerry’s family. So, when her children began to demonstrate 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 diner and continued to earn money for her family. Of course, Jerry also ran the store, but it was up to Theresa to run things when Jerry was busy with other things.
For Giada, she never knew about Justin’s magical past until Billie arrived at her house 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 have welcomed into their home, but she is no fool either. Before long, Giada managed to learn some of the secrets that were being kept from her and remained remarkably well with the updates. Considering her day job is as an investigative reporter, Giada also has a highly developed work ethic, pushing to support 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 are not easily fooled, often digging deeper to uncover the truth. They also have no prior relationship with magic, but as kind, supportive mothers, they believe in their children and encourage them to be the best and brightest wizards they can be.
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Justin Russo =Jerry Russo
And finally, Justin Russo is the only character who appears regularly on the series in both Wizards of Waverly Place and Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Although his main role in the original show was to be the 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 the right way, his role in the reboot isn’t much different. However, he is now a father and works as a high school principal.
Justin was in the rare position where he was allowed to keep his wizard powers due to the fact that he was hired to become Wiztech’s youngest director ever. His studious nature and incredible talent for learning, teaching, and conducting magic with precision made him a great fit for the role. However, he was ultimately fired and ended 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 children of his own.
This story echoes that of Jerry Russo, a talented young wizard who managed to overcome 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 children came of age, Jerry became their magic teacher, guiding them in learning and trying to keep them on the right path when they were likely to make mistakes. In this way, the original characters persist in the new series, with their essential characteristics imbued in the new cast of characters. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.