Will Max appear in “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place”? All about Jake T. Austin’s potential return

Jake T. Austin played Max Russo on the Disney Channel original show ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’

Wizards Beyond Waverly Placesaw the return of Selena Gomez And David Henry as magicians more than 10 years later Wizards of Waverly Place ended, but Jake T Austin was missing until now.

The revival of Disney Channel’s hit 2007 show Wizards of Waverly Place premiered on October 29. The series revisits the eldest Russo sibling, Justin Russo (Henrie), who has left his profession behind and tried to live a normal life with his new family – until his sister Alex (Gomez) shows up and asks her brother to take on a new student, Billie (Janice Lee Ann Brown).

Related: Wizards of Waverly Place Reboot: Everything about the Disney Show Revival starring Selena Gomez

The series is produced by Gomez, who makes a guest appearance, and Henrie, who is a series regular. Meanwhile, Austin’s portrayal of Max, the youngest Russo sibling, was missing from the revival’s first episode.

That’s how Max also appears Wizards Beyond Waverly Place? Here’s everything you need to know about how the series handled his absence in the premiere and whether he plans to appear.

Will Max show up? Wizards Beyond Waverly Place?

Despite Austin’s absence as Max in the early episodes, his return has not been ruled out.

In January 2024, Henrie shared a photo on Instagram with his on-screen family, particularly missing the youngest Russo sibling. Although he missed the family affair, Austin reposted the image to his Instagram Stories, adding, “Wow! I look forward to getting together with my Wizards family.”

After a leading role Wizards of Waverly Place, Austin continued playing The Fostersfor two seasons before leaving the show in 2015 and taking time away from Hollywood.

He later reflected on his departure in an interview with Show off magazine in February 2019, explaining that he had fallen into “the trap of being in Hollywood.” The actor explained that he “worked with the wrong people, made some bad choices and also didn’t take the work seriously.”

Related: Wizards of Waverly Place cast: where are they now?

Austin went on to say that he had “lost sight of who I was as a person” after years of being “really enveloped in the characters I played and connected to them.”

But he still remembers his time on the Disney Channel show fondly and appreciates the “doors it opened for him.”

“It was a huge learning experience to be part of such a successful groundbreaking show at such a young age,” he told Flaunt. “Probably one of the most educational experiences of my life.”

Austin has since returned to Hollywood where he is starringTheEmoji movie And Detrimental – and possibly a cameo appearance down the line Wizards Beyond Waverly Placealthough nothing has been confirmed.

How did Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Explain Max’s absence?

In the first episode of the revival, Max’s absence briefly discussed when Billie, a young wizard, shows up on Justin’s doorstep with Alex and asks him if he is the “billionaire” sibling who owns all the sandwich shops.

“Um, no, that would be Max,” Justin told her. “I’m an assistant principal at a high school, which some people say is way cooler than being a billionaire.”

This is similar to how the original Wizards of Waverly Place series ended: the Russo siblings battled to determine which of them would retain his powers and become the family wizard.

The events left Alex and Justin both with their powers, while Max inherited the family’s sandwich shop: the Waverly Sub Station.

“So Alex and Justin become wizards and I get the family substation?” he asked his father. “That’s great!”

What have Selena Gomez and David Henrie said about Jake T. Austin’s return?

When the revival series was first announced in January, Henrie teased a copy of the script on his Instagramfans expressed their concerns in the comments about whether or not the original cast would return.

Henrie expressed his plans for the series, commenting, “We definitely plan on bringing back the original cast for the series order .”

While Gomez hasn’t commented directly on Austin’s return, she did share that she and her on-screen little brother have maintained a friendship over the years.

In September 2024 Vanity fair video, Gomez joked, “Jake, why don’t you ever answer my texts?”

‘He became a bit handsome. He had all the girls, I remember,” she continued, before clarifying, “I’m complimenting you.”

For which other original cast members will return Wizards Beyond Waverly Place?

While Henrie will be the only series regular, many other original cast members will also be returning.

David DeLuise, who played Russo patriarch Jerry Russo, appeared in episode 7 of the first season.

Meanwhile, Maria Canals-Barrera, who portrayed Russian matriarch Theresa, shared a photo Instagram in January with the caption, “Y’all will love the new Wizards show!”

She told PEOPLE at the series premiere that she was proud of Gomez and Henrie for “passing the magic wand and keeping it going.”

As for the Russos’ family and friends, Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone) and Mason Greyback (Greg Sulkin) have both potential returns teased.

In September 2024, Henrie shared a photo on X (formerly Twitter) featuring Sulkin, with the caption: “Guess who visited settttttttttt ?”

Meanwhile, DeLuise revealed in a February 2024 episode of the Wizards of Waverly Pod – hosted by himself and Stone – that he had conversations with Henrie about the return of both their characters and could see Harper joining the queue.

“I think for a sequel or revival to be successful, you have to take the original that people fell in love with and then create its own thing and weave that together, so it will be interesting to see how he gets it done and I’m curious to see what he does with it,” said Stone.