Jake T. Austin said yes to a Wizards return back in 2020. The spinoff still left Max Russo out. The Wizards spinoff ended without Max Russo. Jake T. Austin finally explained the snub on Instagram.
Jake T. Austin confesses disappointment after being excluded from Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
Jake T. Austin turned to his Instagram Story on Aug. 7, days after the Wizards of Waverly Place reboot wrapped without him.
“To all the Wizards fans, just wanted to say for the record how disappointed I am to have not been included in the spinoff,” Austin wrote. “I was asked back in 2020 if I was interested in reprising my role and said that I was 100% in.”
Producers, however, went another way. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place built its story around David Henrie’s Justin Russo and his family of wizards, while Selena Gomez dropped in occasionally as Alex Russo. Max Russo, meanwhile, never appeared onscreen. Instead, the show sent him offscreen, where he successfully ran the family business.
“Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to take the show in a different direction and my character wasn’t part of the equation,” the Fosters alum continued.
Still, the Jake T. Austin statement closed warmly. “Even though I wasn’t involved, I still have nothing but love for my former castmates and wish them continued success,” he wrote. “Thank you to all the fans who watched over the years. The show wouldn’t be what it is without your endless support.”
Afterward, E! News asked Disney for comment and had not heard back.
Other Disney Channel alums fared better. Maria Canals-Barrera and David DeLuise, who played the Russo parents, turned up earlier in the run, while Jennifer Stone and Gregg Sulkin returned for the finale. DeLuise nevertheless called that finale a “missed opportunity” for skipping a full original-cast return.
That episode aired Aug. 4 and gutted longtime viewers. A magical rift held Alex captive alongside Stone’s Harper until the doorbell rang and revealed Sulkin’s Mason, her former boyfriend. Naturally, Alex lit up and expected a proposal from the werewolf. Instead, Mason reminded her of one crucial detail: he had died.
“You have a whole other life, Alex,” Mason emphasized. And she needs you. That’s the life that you’re meant to live. You have to go back.”
Eventually, she did go back, which secured happy endings for herself and Justin. Sulkin, for his part, simply welcomed the reunion. “All I had to do was look at Selena, and it was like, ‘Okay, cool, we’re back,'” he told Deadline in an interview published Aug. 4.
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