Why Selena Gomez Isn’t in ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ More

If you’re going into “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” expecting a whole lot of Selena Gomez, well, you might want to temper that. But according to series star and executive producer David Henrie, there’s varying reasons for it.

Debuting on Disney Channel on Tuesday night, and streaming its first nine episodes on Disney+ on Wednesday, the sequel series centers on a now-adult Justin Russo (Henrie), who’s been living his life magic-free since getting fired as headmaster at Wiz Tech. But when his sister Alex (Gomez) shows up at his door with a young wizard who desperately needs training, he decides to get back into teaching.

Granted, it’s not an immediate decision. It takes quite a bit of persuading by his sister, reminding him just how much he loves to do it. Naturally, there are some classic hijinks involved, but in the end, the two share some touching scenes. And according to Henrie, getting back into the swing of things with Gomez “should have been harder than it was.”

“Honestly, the second they said action, Selena and I didn’t miss a beat. It was like we had been doing the show all in between these past 13 years,” he told TheWrap. “We didn’t miss a beat. It was magical.”

“It was absolutely special, but it should have been harder! I don’t know, if you haven’t played a sport in 13 years and suddenly you’re back in the game, that should be difficult, but we always had such great chemistry and such a great banter back and forth, that didn’t go anywhere.”

All that said, Gomez only stars in the first episode of the series (so far, though she is an executive producer on the show as well). When asked whether there were discussions to keep her around a little longer, Henrie noted that there were “debates around absolutely everything.”

But, at the end of the day, the core objective for both actors was to honor the original, give a big “warm hug” to the fans, and then welcome in the next generation.

“There’s a whole new generation of kids that have no idea what ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ is,” he explained. “So for us, that was always kind of the most important objective. And then it really is more contingent on Selena’s schedule and when we could fit things in.”

“Everyone is very busy. So it’s like, how can we do what we really want to do, which is create these memorable experiences for a new generation of kid, but at the same time, respect the old?”

“Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” begins streaming on Disney+ on Wednesday, October 30.

The post Why Selena Gomez Isn’t in ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ More appeared first on TheWrap.