Wizards Beyond Waverly Place has premiered on Disney Channel after much anticipation, continuing the legacy of Wizards Of Waverly Place. The sequel series keeps the magic and charm of the original show while introducing some new characters.
David Henrie returns as Justin Russo, who lives an ordinary life with his wife and kids away from the wizarding world. While the predecessor series focused on three siblings, the sequel has a new protagonist in the form of Billie, played by Janice LeAnn Brown.
Billie is a wizard who struggles with her powers, just like Selena Gomez’s character Alex did in the original show. She undergoes training in magic and seeks Justin’s help to have more control over her powers.
Billie is being trained in magic by Justin in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
Billie is a young and powerful wizard-in-training in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place who shakes up the otherwise ordinary life that Justin Russo has built for himself since the events of the original series.
Born in the 2010s, Billie is stubborn, rebellious, and tends to get into trouble, which is why every other wizard teacher has given up on her. In the first episode, Alex brings Billie to Justin after she gets kicked out of a wizarding school.
Alex reveals that there is a prophecy that says Billie will save the world from ending, and hence, she needs the best tutor she knows, her brother, to train the young prodigy in magic.
Soon after Billie arrives at the Russo house, she causes chaos by accidentally creating a Floogie monster, which leads to Justin’s sons, Milo and Roman, discovering that their father has magical powers.
Justin doesn’t want to help Billie initially, since he gave up magic after leaving WizTech. But he agrees to train her and offers her to stay at their home after Alex tells him about the prophecy. As the show goes on, Billie faces the consequences of not being careful with her magic.
She tries to erase the memories of Milo and Roman, but accidentally makes half of their bodies disappear instead. At one point, she tries to use magic to make friends on her first day of middle school, but her new friend, Winter, gets caught up in a blunder as the magic misfires.
Janice LeAnn Brown, who plays Billie in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, spoke about her character in an interview with Teen Vogue, reflecting on why Alex chose to contact Justin to train her. She said:
“Alex saw something in Billie that nobody else saw, and I think, in a way, she knew her brother would be the right one to teach her about it.”
The actress also shared her thoughts on the friendship between Billie and Winter, in the show:
Billie really needs Winter in a way, and without her, I feel like she would’ve found herself in a lot of trouble.
Billie’s personality is similar to Alex Russo’s from the original show. Both are sarcastic, independent, and do not like to follow rules. This makes for a fun and sometimes tense relationship between Billie and Justin, since the latter is a family man who wants his life to stay normal.
Over the course of the show, Justin learns to embrace his magical past and helps Billie grow in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. With time, the two get closer as mentor and mentee. However, despite her magical powers, Billie becomes scared of abandonment because of the rejections she faced from her teachers, early on.
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This fear adds depth to her character, portraying that behind a trouble-making wizard, there is a sensitive kid. Now that Billie has found a family in the Russos and a friend in Winter, she will likely overcome the fear of abandonment over time, while also honing her magic skills.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place airs new episodes on Fridays and is streaming on Disney+.
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