David Henrie wants to set the record straight: Selena Gomez's Alex Russo is not dead.

In an exclusive interview with People, published 5 August 2026, Henrie said fans "misunderstood" the Season 2 finale of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place and that the show would "never" kill off Alex Russo.

The confusion goes back to the Season 2 finale, which aired in late 2025. Gomez's character appeared to sacrifice herself to save her family during a confrontation with the evil wizard Morsus, played by Tobias Jelinek (People, 9 October 2025). Viewers were left wondering whether Alex had met her end.

Henrie's explanation is characteristically literal. He told People that Alex was sucked into a void — not killed — because she was neither incinerated nor mauled on camera (Deadline, 5 August 2026). In the logic of the Wizards universe, if you did not see a body destroyed, the character is still in play.

The clarification arrives just as the spinoff enters its final chapter. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 3 is a four-episode finale event — shorter than Season 1's 21 episodes and Season 2's 10 (Deadline, 3 August 2026). The season premiered 4 August 2026 on Disney Channel, with episodes available the next day on Disney+. Disney Channel confirmed in April that this would be the show's final season (People, 2 April 2026).

Henrie, who plays the overachieving eldest brother Justin Russo and serves as executive producer on the spinoff (People, 2 April 2026), has been doing the rounds to promote the finale. He appeared on ABC News Live on 3 August to discuss the new season and his children's book (ABC News Live, 3 August 2026), and back in June he teased a "major Easter egg" in the Season 2 finale on his Instagram account (Instagram, 6 June 2026).

The Season 3 finale trailer, released in mid-July, opens with a flashback to that very Season 2 scene — the moment Billie, played by Janice LeAnn Brown, discovers that Alex Russo is her mother (People, 15 July 2026).

Henrie has said previously that he wants the story of Justin and Alex Russo "to be dealt with very carefully" (People, 2 October 2025). With four episodes left to wrap up the series, that care is about to be put to the test.

For fans who have spent months assuming the worst about Alex Russo, Henrie's message is simple: she went into a void. She did not die. What comes next is what the finale is for.