Not everyone is heading back to Waverly Place. Dan Benson, who played Justin Russo’s quirky best friend Zeke in the original run of Wizards of Waverly Place, is seemingly kicking himself for jumping the gun and joining the adult film industry before a reboot was announced.
Earlier this week, original stars David Henrie and Selena Gomez revealed that they would be executive producing and starring in a reboot of the beloved sitcom — which will not include Benson, who began his porn career in 2022.
“Are you kidding me? Today they just announced that they’re bringing back Wizards of Waverly Place in a sequel,” Benson said in a TikTok video. “Are you — are you kidding me? I mean one: yo, that’s hype! But oh boy. Oh boy, what have I done?”
The actor seemed well aware that Disney Channel would likely not hire him back given his current career in adult entertainment.
“I waited like 13 years — just waiting around,” he continued. “Now, ‘OK, here we go. Let’s fire it up! As soon as Dan becomes a porn star, let’s reboot Wizards again!’ You guys suck.”
While Benson said he was “just kidding,” he did appear nervous about what writers would do with his former character.
“What do you think they do with Zeke’s character? [Do] they just act like he doesn’t exist? Do they recast him?” he wondered. “Oh my god, is there gonna be someone else playing … No. No!”
Benson, who has since retired from acting, opened up about his porn career in a 2023 TikTok video.
“I don’t feel bad about myself. I feel kind of like a badass, a little bit,” he said, per People, adding, “You’re gonna get what I’m comfortable with sharing with the world, which now is quite a bit. So, anyway, I’m feeling good, I’m excited about the future, and I don’t really feel bad about my decisions at all.”
As announced on Thursday (Jan. 18), the Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff is set to follow Justin Russo (Henrie), who gave up his wizard powers to live a normal life with his wife and two sons. However, he’s forced to confront his magical past when a powerful young wizard in need of training shows up at his doorstep.
Henrie will reprise his role as a series regular, while Gomez will guest-star as Alex Russo in the first episode.
