Will's past and present are darker in new 'Bel-Air' teaser: 'You could've been killed'
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's dramatic reboot, Bel-Air, is almost here.
On Wednesday, Peacock dropped a teaser trailer for the series, of which the first three, hourlong episodes will be available to stream on Feb. 13, this year's Super Bowl Sunday. The latest footage captures Jabari Banks, the new Will, infamously scuffling in Philly, as punches are thrown and a gunshot goes into the air. Then it cuts to him riding in a car driven by his mom, played by actress April Parker Jones.
"You could've been killed," she tells him. "You know that, right?"
When he asks where they're going, she answers that they're headed to the airport.
"You're gonna stay with your aunt and your uncle," she says.
Her words were somewhat different than star Will Smith explained — in such a catchy way — in the theme song for the '90s version.
One ?l?i?t?t?l?e? ? serious fight and 10 words that started it all: "You're going to stay with your aunt and your uncle."#BelAirPeacock streaming February 13. pic.twitter.com/D9QR0HJZfW
— Peacock (@peacockTV) January 26, 2022
But then the entire show, executive-produced by Smith, feels unlike the NBC comedy in early sneak peeks. Bel-Air is darker and grittier, as we saw in the first full-length trailer, when it was released earlier this month.
Morgan Cooper, the man who inspired it all with the 2019 video he created reimagining the sitcom as a drama, said the goal is to make something new while maintaining the spirit of the original.
"Because Bel-Air is a drama, we're able to really peel back the layers of these characters and themes in a way that you simply couldn't do 30 years ago in the half-hour sitcom format," Cooper, a writer, director and co-executive producer on the new series, said in a previously released statement. "We're able to go have tough conversations that challenge perspectives. At its core, Bel-Air is a celebration of the Black experience through the perspective of a family."
More than 30 years after its debut, Fresh Prince continues to delight its fans, through both reruns and the offscreen interactions between cast members. Just last week, Smith whipped social media into a frenzy when he wished Janet Hubert, the actress who played the first Aunt Vivian, a happy birthday.
