A Different World Trailer: Jada Pinkett Smith And Debbie Allen Return To Hillman, As The Incoming Class Prepares To Party
Relax, relate, and release, everyone! The fall semester at Hillman College is rapidly approaching, and we’ve finally got the first footage from Netflix’s forthcoming “A Different World” sequel series.
The series (which drops all 10 episodes on the streaming giant Thursday, September 24) is chock-full of new and legacy characters, as Deborah (Whitley and Duane’s daughter, played by Maleah Joi Moon) is seen settling in at Hillman, her parents’ alma mater. As she begins to meet new friends and roommates, the clip gifts us with the return of Jada Pinkett Smith’s Lena James, in addition to original series producer/director Debbie Allen as Dr. Langhorne, who’s seen giving Deborah some very sage advice.
Jasmine Guy (Whitley) and Kadeem Hardison (Duane) are all over the nearly two-minute clip, which also features Deborah wearing her father’s signature frames as she and her friends strive to live their “best, young, gifted, Black, talented lives.”
Who else is returning to Hillman in A Different World’s sequel series?
Deborah Wayne is described as “a free spirit with a flair for the spotlight and a big heart who’s still figuring out her own path at Hillman… Along the way, she’s joined by a new generation that reflects the breadth of Black life on campus: Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai), a first‑gen criminal justice major; Shaquille Johnson (Cornell Young IV), a five‑star athlete choosing legacy; Amir Rodale (Jordan Aaron Hall), a sharp psych major better at fixing everyone else’s problems than facing his own; Hazel Henry (Kennedi Reece), a church‑raised small‑town girl defining her own values; and Kojo Achebe (Chibuikem Uche), a Ghanaian‑Nigerian fashion entrepreneur finding the courage to follow his vision.”
In addition to Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Debbie Allen, other returning Hillman alumni include Cree Summer (as Freddie Brooks), Darryl M. Bell (as Ron Johnson), Charnele Brown (as Kimberly Reese), and Jenifer Lewis (as Dorothy Dandridge Davenport).
While the original series was a multi-camera sitcom, the follow-up is single-camera, shot without a studio audience, and “set against the rituals, humor, and nuances of an HBCU.” This newer version is described as a “hopeful dramedy, full of heart and unapologetically centered on the richness and complexity of the Black experience.” (Listen to the sequel series’ new theme song sung by Brandy.)
Watch the trailer above, then take a look at some new pics below. Then, light up the comments with your thoughts.
