Light spoilers for the first episode of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place are ahead. The series premiered as part of the 2024 TV schedule. If you still need to catch up with the show, you can check out the first eight episodes on Disney+ with a Disney+ subscription right now.
When I found out that there was going to be a Wizards of Waverly Place sequel series, I was excited to see what the next part of this beloved story would lead to. One of my favorite parts of the original franchise was all the strange monsters that the main crew of kids had to face constantly. When I had the chance to interview the cast of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, I knew I needed to ask the new kids what kinds of monsters they would want back for this series, and I love their answers.
The sequel series takes place more than a decade after the original show ended, and the new cast of kids – Taylor Cora (Winter), Alkaio Thiele (Roman), and Max Matenko (Milo) – hadn't watched the show before getting their roles. But, in a way to calm their nerves and prepare for their roles, they did end up watching it prior to filming. Their answers for what monsters from the original series they would want back were great after the crazy monster (the Floogie) they had to face in the first episode. Cora's favorite was Franken-Girl from Season 3, or possibly the daughter of the character, as she shared:
I would like to see Franken-Girl because I think she was a hilarious character, and I haven't finished the show, so I don't know what happened with her, but I would really love to see her return, or maybe Franken-Girl's daughter. I don't know, something of the sort, but I really think Franken-Girl was a super hilarious bit that they did, and I would love to see her return.
Franken-Girl was a part of the first episode of Season 3 of the original show, and as someone who rewatched Wizards of Waverly Place as an adult, I believe that, yes, Franken-Girl is a great pick.
Max Matenko, on the other hand, had a different character in mind – this time, a big Season 4 villain:
Yeah, I'd love to see, probably, I forget the name, I think it's Gorog, The Angel of Darkness. I think that would be really cool, another episode of that where they come back and we have to fight them off again. But this time with new added family members. I think that would be fun if I had to ask for someone to come back.
While a name like "Gorog: Angel of Darkness" might sound like something you'd see in the best horror movies, the character was really just a leader of a group called Angels of Darkness. He was undoubtedly a memorable villain – but it would be hilarious (and honestly intriguing) to see him again in the sequel if he somehow came back.
Staying on that villain/bad guy track, Thiele also had a different response, bringing up the episode where Justin visited a place that had a leprechaun trapped in a box precisely because it was a "grumpy" leprechaun and rude to everyone. The young actor said that it wouldn't just be because the idea of a "grumpy" leprechaun was funny, but he thinks no one would like him and that seeing Milo interact with the leprechaun would be hilarious:
He was really funny, and I think it would be fun to see some interactions with the new family and the leprechaun because our mom definitely would not like the leprechaun, and Roman would not like the Leprechaun, but I think Milo would think he was funny.
Matenko amusedly added this to the fact, stating what Milo would most likely do:
I'd just try to make friends with him.
All of these picks remind me of some of the best fantasy TV shows and are great monsters that I'd love to see. I could easily see any of these choices used in the new series, especially since they all had pretty big storylines with Justin and Alex and both David Henrie and Selena Gomez are executive producers on the show. Only time will tell. But yeah, I'd give anything to see Roman Russo freak out over that leprechaun.
