‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’: Two Original Series Characters Not Returning On Final Season

Fans will not get to see what all of the Russos are up to in the final season of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place since two of the original characters are not returning. The news was confirmed in an Instagram post.

The Disney Channel show will have one last four-part special before it says goodbye this summer. Jennifer Stone and Gregg Sulkin, two recurring characters from the original series, were confirmed to return, but David DeLuise, who played Jerry Russo, and Jake T. Austin, who played Max Russo, will not make an appearance.

A spin-off of 2007’s Wizards of Waverly Place, WBWP last left fans on two huge cliffhangers in the Season 2 finale, where Alex Russo (Selena Gomez) jumped into a portal to save her family after it was revealed that Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) was her daughter. Fans will get to see how that plays out in four parts.

Read on for everything we know about the upcoming season.

Has Wizards Beyond Waverly Place been renewed?

Yes! Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is returning for one more season. According to an April 2 press release, the show goes into production in the second week of April.

What will Season 3 be about?

Billie, still reeling from losing Alex at the end of Season 2, discovers that the only way to rescue her mother is to reunite with her long-lost father. As her family bands together to find Alex, Billie realizes that their combined power is the only way the Russos can defeat the evil plaguing them.

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When will Season 3 premiere?

An exact date hasn’t been announced yet, but the promo teases “this summer.”

Who is returning to Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 3?

Brown and Gomez, along with David Henrie, Mimi Gianopulos, Alkaio Thiele, Max Matenko, and Taylor Cora, will all return. Gomez will appear in multiple episodes and also make her directorial debut on the premiere episode.

Stone, Sulkin, and Maria Canals-Barrera, who have appeared on the spinoff series a few times as Theresa Russo, will all return for the final season.

“We’ve summoned a magical cast for the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place final season. This summer on Disney+ and Disney Channel,” the Instagram post on April 17 read.

The photo featured Brown, Henrie, Gianopulos, Theile, and Matenko, as well as Gomez, Stone, Sulkin, and Canals-Barrera as guest stars.

DeLuise, who appeared in earlier seasons of Wizards Beyond, was not listed. Neither was Austin, who has yet to appear on the spinoff. Even in the comments, fans wondered where the two members of the Russo family were.

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How did Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 2 end?

Season 2 ended with two big bombshells. The Russos were trying to save Billie from Lord Morsus, who was trying to take away her magic. They got tied up by the evil wizard, and Billie opened a portal to come with him to save her family. As she did so, Alex shed a tear. It fell onto the Penwolf locket she found in her apartment and released a memory.

In the flashback, fans saw Alex dropping Billie off at the boarding school, Wiz Tech, because Lord Morsus was after her. But, it was also revealed that Alex was Billie’s mom, and her dad was Morsus’ son.

After that revelation, Milo (Matenko) used magic to untie the family, and they all tried to defeat Lord Morsus. They wanted to close the portal, but he said it could only be closed from the other side. Billie offered to go through it since she opened it, but Alex stopped her. She kissed her on the forehead and the locket, apologized for leaving her, and jumped through the portal with Lord Morsus.

Her fate was left ambiguous, with fans not knowing if she died or was just stuck somewhere in another dimension. However, Henrie confirmed that she was just trapped in the portal.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, Season 3, this summer, Disney Channel/Disney+