The original Wizards of Waverly Place first premiered in 2007 and ended its run in 2012. The all-new series, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, follows an adult Justin Russo (David Henrie, who also executive produces), who has embraced a normal life with his wife, Giada (Mimi Gianopulos), and their children, Roman (Alkaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko). However, when his sister Alex (Selena Gomez) brings Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a young wizard seeking guidance, into his home, he must rediscover his magical talents to mentor her, all while managing his family duties and ensuring the safety of the Wizard World and the future of magic.

It was both “insanely difficult” and “ultimately easy” for star Henrie to step back into the shoes of Justin after so many years. “The pressure was certainly there, because there’s a lot of expectation,” the actor told SciFi Vision during a recent press conference. “…There [are] a lot of people with a lot of opinions and a lot of anticipation, so that pressure was certainly weighing down on me, but the actual doing of it was really easy. It wasn’t like, you know, a sport you hadn’t played in thirteen years, and it’s really hard to pick back up. It was just there.”

Henrie went on to talk about his first scene back with costar Gomez where it was just the two of them. “It was like not a moment was missed,” he told the site. “It was like we had been doing it ever since the show ended. The chemistry was there; the banter, the timing, it was all right there. So, it was really easy at the same time, but also really hard. But we’ve taken very seriously the development of the show, so we really are excited for original fans and new fans to have this experience.”

The first eight episodes of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, which premiered yesterday on Disney Channel, are now available to stream on Disney+.

Watch the press conference with Henrie, Brown, Gianopulos, Thiele, and Matenko, as well as Taylor Cora, who plays Winter, below.