One member of the Russo family has yet to make an appearance on the Disney Channel spinoff, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Photos dropped for the finale on Friday, February 28, and fans noticed that Max Russo (Jake T. Austin) is not in them.
“I need a spell to make it Feb 28th already because look at all these amazing moments to come!!” the Instagram post was captioned.
The photos featured Justin Russo (David Henrie), his sons Milo (Max Matenko) and Roman (Alkaio Thiele), along with Roman’s friend, Winter (Taylor Cora), and Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a troubled wizard who was dropped off by Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), Justin’s sister, at the beginning of the season.
Also featured in the photos are guest stars- Gomez, the main character in Wizards of Waverly Place, and Alex and Justin’s parents, Jerry (David Deluise) and Theresa (Maria Canals-Barrera). Max, was noticeably missing from the photos. Austin has yet to appear on the spinoff series, despite the rest of his TV family appearing multiple times.
Max’s absence is explained on the show. He is now a millionaire, running a corporation of the family’s sub-shops after losing his powers in the wizard competition at the end of the original series.
The photos show Alex and Justin aiming their wands at someone out of frame, Billie and Jerry interacting in multiple poses, Theresa cooking in the kitchen, Winter studying, and Milo and Roman in danger as an unknown villain aims their wand at them.
While fans fawned over the original characters coming back, many of them asked the same question: “Where’s Max?”
“Where’s the missing brother? We need a full reunion,” one fan said.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty
“There’s no Uncle Max of Harper in this next part,” said another. Harper (Jennifer Stone) played Alex’s non-magical best friend, who had a crush on Justin. She didn’t return for the spinoff either. Instead, Justin is married to Giada (Mimi Gianopulos), a redhead who looks similar to Harper.
“WHERE’S MAX?” asked multiple fans.
“We’re waiting for you, Max,” said another.
“Now I wonder if Max is gonna come back at some point,” asked an Instagram user.
Henrie also teased Greg Sulkin, who played Mason Greyback, Alex’s werewolf boyfriend, returning. He has yet to appear in Season 1.
“Guess who visited settttttttttt? The one and only @greggsulkin,” Henrie captioned an Instagram post from September 2024. Henrie posted two photos of them with their arms around each other in the Russo family kitchen.
The season finale airs on Disney Channel on February 28 at 8/7c. There is no news on if the show has been picked up for Season 2. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place can also be streamed on Disney+. All episodes will be available to watch on the streaming site after the finale airs.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, Fridays at 8pm, Disney Channel