In recent years, the demand for lightweight, high-strength metal materials has increased dramatically, and aluminum matrix composites have many advantages that have attracted attention. In this study, Ni layer was electroplated on the surface of tungsten carbide particles, core-shell tungsten carbide particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composite coating was prepared on the surface of ZE41 magnesium alloy by cold spraying, the microstructure, friction and wear characteristics of the two composite coatings are also discussed. The results show that the WC-Ni/Al composite coating has a dense microstructure, the gaps and pores are significantly reduced and the particle distribution is significantly improved. Compared with the WC/Al composite coating, the hardness of the WC-Ni/Al composite coating (89.64 HV) increased by 43.06%, the coefficient of friction (0.39) decreased by 9.56% and the wear amount (0.141 mm3/N·m) decreased by 23.37%. The results show the desirability of strengthening the joint interface by treating the WC with a prefabricated Ni layer, and provide a new strategy for cold spraying to prepare highly wear resistant composite coatings.