It has been eleven years since Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place concluded, yet fans are still getting new updates on the show’s characters and cast. Selena Gomez’s Alex Russo has had several relationships throughout the series’ five-year run, although one possibility was never explored.
Wizards of Waverly Place follows the story of Alex Russo and her brothers who come from a lineage of wizards, and they must learn how to control their powers before they lose it forever. The show also tackled real-life situations and typical teenage problems, such as school, love life, and friendship.
Disney Channel’s Wizards Of Waverly Place Showrunner Wanted A Queer Relationship Sub-Plot
During the eighth episode of Wizards of Waverly Pod led by former co-stars Jennifer Stone and David DeLuise, showrunner Peter Murrieta discussed the scenes during their rewatch. He revealed a storyline he wanted to pursue before but never materialized:
“Easy, I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us was the relationship between Stevie and Alex.”
Murrieta served as the writer and executive producer of the show for the first three seasons. In the third installment, Alex met a teenage wizard named Stevie Nichols (played by Hayley Kiyoko), and they eventually became close friends because of their similar personalities. Nichols, however, only appeared in the show for four episodes.
The hosts agreed with Murrieta and said that Alex and Stevie’s relationship could be an interesting plot. Stone commented that “if we were just a few years down the line, we maybe could have played with that.” Murrieta also said:
“We weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was. That would have been fun.”
DeLuise interjected a question: “Nowadays that could happen, right?” and the showrunner responded:
“I mean they did it. Disney Channel has had characters, and they did it. But at that time, it wasn’t a thing. But, we got as close as we could. I mean it was pretty close. It was pretty much right there.”
Murrieta revealed he had other plans for the finale which could have been used in the show although he has zero idea since he never got to watch the final episode. The former producer also pitched an idea lest a reboot happens, where Alex Russo is married to a werewolf and Justin is married to a vampire. He imagines they would have kids.
Disney’s Complicated View Of Queer Representations
Jennifer Stone noted that if Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place was created today, it would be easy to present queer characters and relationships. Despite the strict rules in the early 2000s, Murrieta and the pool of writers have expressed openness on the concept.
However, Disney is still doubtful about this suggestion as the recent years have seen lots of controversies surrounding the idea of queer romances especially on movies and shows made for young audiences.
Although, there have been several gay characters under Disney in the past few years, the studio strives to be inclusive without promoting queer relationships. Knowing that the creators of Wizards of Waverly Place were open to this concept, fans could only hope that Disney would give the show another shot in the future.
Source: Wizards of Waverly Pod
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