Why Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Fans Are Still Angry After the Finale

After two seasons and a four-part finale event, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place finally came to an end, but not without its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama.

The revived show, based on Wizards of Waverly Place, centred on Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a wisecracking teen wizard who is sent by Alex Russo (Selena Gomez) to live with Justin (David Henrie) and his family to be trained in the ways of the wand. Needless to say, with Justin giving up his powers due to an incident at WizTech, their lives are turned upside down. Both Henrie and Gomez acted as executive producers on the reboot, and several Wizards of Waverly Place alumni popped up throughout the revival's run, including Maria Canals-Barrera, David DeLuise, Gregg Sulkin, and Jennifer Stone. 

While this reboot put Justin’s family at the centre, Alex still played a prominent role, with Season 2 revealing that she was actually Billie’s mother. However, the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place finale has stoked controversy across the fandom, with ex-cast-members also adding fuel to the fire. To learn more about the drama behind the drama, keep reading — but be warned you might encounter spoilers. 

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Killed A Key Character

In the finale, fans were stoked when Mason Greyback (Sulkin) appeared. He played a huge role in the later seasons of OG Wizards as Alex’s boyfriend. For many fans, the characters were ‘endgame,’ so when it was revealed that Mason was actually dead, they weren’t happy, taking to X to share their feelings.

“Why would you kill Mason Greyback?!” one complained. “They were soulmates.”

“The entire “revival” is worthless and shouldn’t be considered canon,” a second wrote.

While a third sniped: “Why did they bring this crap back? They ruined my favorite show because David can't get over the fact that Alex was always the lead, and not even killing her and the greatest couple Disney ever created.  He’ll never have the relevance her character had—and still has to this day.”

Other Wizards Characters Didn’t Return Either

In the aftermath of the finale, multiple actors from the original show also spoke out, claiming that they’re disappointed that they weren’t invited back for the finale. DeLuise, who only appeared in two episodes, said in an Instagram video comment: “It would not be over if the OG wizards were really there. Missed opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Jake T Austin, who appeared as Max Russo in the original series, didn’t appear in the revival at all: something that he claims wasn’t his choice. 

In an Instagram story post, he said: "To all the Wizards fans, just wanted to say for the record how disappointed I am to have not been included in the spinoff. I was asked back in 2020 if I was interested in reprising my role and said that I was 100% in. Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to take the show in a different direction and my character wasn't part of the equation.”

Because these key characters were missing, many fans on X were disappointed, despite Henrie’s insistence that they did want Max on the show especially.

“It really does feel incomplete without him,” one fan wrote in reference to Austin. “Max was such a big part of the original show, and it makes total sense that he and the fans feel this way.”

A second said: “Disney and David really tried to play in his face and treat him like real-life Max. Fuck a reboot, this drama is the actual continuation of the show.”

And a third posted that “everything [Austin] said is how we are all feeling.”

With Henrie now teasing that a movie could “totally” happen, could this be a second chance to put things right? Or will fans be left disappointed again? Either way, it’s clear what Selena said is true: everything really is not what it seems.