Disney is heading back to beyond Waverly Place.
Disney Branded Television, the company’s kids and family division, has renewed Wizards Beyond Waverly Place for a second season. The pickup comes about a month after the sitcom concluded its 21-episode first season. Production on season two is set to begin in April in Los Angeles.
“I’m overwhelmed by all the love for the series and ready to keep serving this new generation of Wizards fans with more Russo magic, while continuing to deliver a big warm hug to the original fan,” star and executive producer David Henrie said in a statement. “So many surprises are in store for this second season. It’s going to be big, so stay tuned.”
Disney ordered the update to its 2007-12 favorite Wizards of Waverly Place in March 2024. The series finds an adult Justin Russo (Henrie) living a normal, mortal life with his wife (Mimi Gianopulos) and kids (Alkaio Thiele and Max Matenko) — until his sister Alex (guest star and EP Selena Gomez) brings a young wizard named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) to him for training.
The series airs on Disney Channel and streams on Disney+. The debut episode was Disney Channel’s best ever series launch on the streamer, gathering the equivalent of 3.2 million complete viewings in its first 12 days of release. Disney also posted the premiere on YouTube, where it has racked up 320,000 hours of viewing as of March 28.
Henrie told The Hollywood Reporter shortly after the series premiere that he and Gomez had discussed where their characters would be as adults before pitching the show: “At a certain point we both looked at each other and said, ‘I think we got a show here,’” he said. “When it got time to be formal with it and pitch and everything, I took it to her in all seriousness and I was like, ‘Hey, I wouldn’t do this without you. I don’t think it’d be right. I can’t do something like that. What do you think?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, duh, of course, this is the perfect timing.’”
Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas serve as writers and executive producers of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Gary Marsh, Jonas Agin, Gomez and Henrie also executive produce. Wizards of Waverly Place was created by Todd Greenwald.