The official trailer has arrived for Bel-Air, a dramatic reimagining of Will Smith‘s classic 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Bel-Air is inspired by a 2019 viral trailer that imaged the original comedy series through a more serious and current lens. That trailer’s creator, Morgan Cooper, scored with his 3-and-half-minute creation, going viral and capturing the attention of Will Smith himself. Now, Cooper is director, co-writer, and executive producer of this series, with Smith on an executive producer team that includes Quincy Jones.
Newcomer Jabari Banks plays Will, who finds his life turned upside down after an incident takes him from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. As these two worlds collide, Will reckons with the power of second chances while navigating the conflicts, emotions, and biases of a world far different from the only one he’s ever known.
It’s interesting to see new takes on the classic characters, from Carlton to Uncle Phil, as well as the more timely approach to the story. The original show’s fish-out-of-water formula, while certainly nothing new, was made fresh, so to speak, thanks to Smith and the rest of the charming ensemble. Fingers crossed this new series both respects the original and brings something relatively new to the table – and doesn’t simply feel like another of the many similar ‘high-school social class warfare’ shows out there right now.
We’ll find out when Bel-Air, also starring Adrian Holmes, Cassandra Freeman, Olly Sholotan, Coco Jones, Akira Akbar, Jimmy Akingbola, Jordan L. Jones, and Simone Joy Jones, premieres on Peacock in the U.S. on February 13th and Stan in Australia on February 14th.