When Wizards of Waverly Place premiered on Disney Channel in 2007, it did not take long to realize that the show's success had been like catching lightning in a bottle. Its quick and clever dialogue, funny characters, and magical storylines helped the series carve a place in Disney Channel's golden age.
The way the series, even from its first episode, showed its identity and potential helped make it a distinct and unique voice among the various other shows on at the same time, such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana.
Years later, Disney Channel is hoping to recreate that experience for a new generation with Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, a sequel series to the original show, this time portraying Justin Russo as the father to his two sons, Roman and Milo, husband to his wife Giada, and mentor to his new wizard student, Billie.
As the new protagonist, Billie is young, sarcastic, and rebellious but is still written well enough to keep her separate from the iconic behavior of Alex Russo.
Striving to avoid being identical to its predecessor, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place makes its changes fairly quickly, placing Justin's family on Staten Island rather than Manhattan, giving Justin a job at the middle school his son attends, and most notably, giving Billie the backstory of growing up in the Wizard World while Justin's family are completely unaware of wizards and magic until Billie's arrival unravels Justin's years of lies.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place seems to want to emulate Roman and Milo into becoming the newer versions of Justin and Max, with Roman enjoying academics and holding onto a more high-strung personality while Milo is more carefree. Luckily, the series knows better than to try to make these relationships identical. Still, when placed together in a scene, Roman, Billie, and Milo still read more as if this sequel series has created a dynamic that is not quite Justin, Alex, and Max than their own unique relationships.
For as much as Wizards Beyond Waverly Place tries to match the rhythm of the original series, it never quite makes it to the same level, falling flat in a lot of jokes where the original series was able to elevate the story. But where this show gets really confusing is how it plays fast and loose with wizard lore, especially pre-established details that existing fans may remember clearly from Wizards of Waverly Place.
Wizards of Waverly Place had made a big deal about the idea that a wizard could not marry a mortal and keep their powers. That detail played a massive role in explaining why Jerry did not have full wizard powers. Yet, in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, Justin still has his wizard powers even though he has married a mortal. So, why is that allowed?
Although Justin was not technically the Family Wizard, that title belonging to Alex, it is still a big detail that the show has yet to truly address.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place aims to up the stakes as the main conflict is how Billie is prophesied to save the world rather than a family wizard competition. Such a choice prevents repeating too much of the original Russo competitive behavior, as does aging down the main characters so the options for storylines can fall under the aspect of more wholesome childhood stories rather than jumping right into the plot lines of growing up in the mid to late teenage years.
An unexpected surprise regarding Max Russo, did come early on, even though he was not physically present. Referencing Max's success as a billionaire sandwich shop franchise owner was a positive choice. The decision to subvert the expectation that Max would eventually fail by deciding instead to make him successful is a much more exciting route for the character and one he deserves after being underestimated for so long.
Selena Gomez falls right back into Alex Russo's charm and wit, with the only issue at hand being the writing that occasionally makes Alex feel not exactly as she was. Meanwhile, David Henrie holds the opposite problem, coming on a bit too strong in the show's early episodes as he works his way back into finding Justin as an adult, rather than just playing into the character's teenage personality.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is a fun show, and new viewers may enjoy it on its own. But, unfortunately, it does not live up to the humor that Wizards of Waverly Place had displayed so effortlessly.