In West Philadelphia, born and raised, Will Smith is well beyond playgrounds and schoolyards these days. Quite recently, the multi-hyphenate entertainer took a bungee jump off of the Victoria Falls Road bridge above the Zambezi River, and while the experience itself was wildly exciting for him, fans are more jazzed that he took a Go Pro camera, which revealed to the world that Will Smith is, in fact, turning into his fictional relative Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And now, a reboot must be imminent. Stare down and agree!
I don't know that Will Smith could have intentionally made himself resemble Uncle Phil in a way that works better than this surprise look during his bungee jumping adventure. I mean, I'm not sure anyone would look at Smith in the video and then at James Avery and automatically assume that the two share the exact same DNA strands, but it makes for an easy answer to the question "Could Will Smith play a convincing patriarch in a potential reboot or continuation of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?" And that answer is yes, yes he could.
Admittedly, it would be kind of weird and/or spooky if Fresh Prince's fictional Will grew up to look like his uncle, someone who for all intents and purposes was his antagonist from week to week. But it would serve as just the kind of poetic justice that the hit 1990s series delivered on an episodic basis, because even though Uncle Phil always came off like a hardass, he was usually right, and Will screwed up constantly. So by becoming a more responsible adult, Will would understandably also go for the bald look with the salt-and-pepper beard. It. Writes. Itself.
Let's not even pretend like a Fresh Prince reboot or revival is a zany concept, since it's almost harder to think of shows that haven't been tapped for some kind of a return to TV. Plus, the comedy is one that fans have actively asked to see again, which has been helped along in recent years by Will Smith occasionally dropping some Fresh Prince theme song rhymes on morning shows. And since actor James Avery sadly passed away some years ago, it would be a pretty stellar way to honor him for arguably his most famous role.
Not to mention Will Smith seriously needed to return to TV at some point for a big series. He'll technically be on the small screen soon thanks to David Ayer's Bright, which is hitting Netflix at the end of the year. Sayyy, maybe Netflix wants to get behind some new fun back in Philly. I know just the dancer and the DJ to call. While waiting to hear about that project that likely won't happen but should, check out our midseason premiere schedule, and then watch Smith's full bungee video on the next page.
