Today, Drake is a famous rapper known for producing Grammy-winning songs (and even feuding with Kendrick Lamar). He recently revisited his professional roots, though, by appearing in the Degrassi: Whatever It Takes documentary, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September amid the 2025 movie schedule. In even bigger news, though, some of Drake’s castmates from The Next Generation claim he's rebooting the franchise, and there's at least one storyline they might want to alter.
What The Degrassi Stars Said About A Potential Reboot
If I could pick only one show to be rebooted, it would be Degrassi. The Canadian teen drama walked so shows like One Tree Hill and Riverdale could run and covered various YA topics like teen pregnancy, mental health and sexuality along with darker topics. Aubrey "Drake" Graham played Jimmy Brooks, an original character on Degrassi: The Next Generation for eight seasons before exiting the show to pursue a music career, but it would seem he’s not quite ready to let go of his alma mater just yet.
Degrassi stars Shane Kippel, who played Jimmy’s best friend Gavin "Spinner" Mason, Melissa McIntyre (Ashley Kerwin), and Mike Lobel (Jay Hogart) recently took part a panel at Nostalgia Con. It was there that Lobel, as seen in a video posted to TikTok by @itsrectimemedia, dropped declared his former castmate's supposed intention to revive the franchise:
He’s rebooting the series, which is wild.
Is it that wild, though? Degrassi is one of the longest running TV franchises, with five installments spanning from 1979–2017. Degrassi: The Next Generation is by far its most successful and well-known installment, lasting 14 years on the air. For me, personally, Degrassi will always be relevant, and I feel as though in this current media landscape, a reboot just feels like a given.
Of course, Drake himself has yet to speak out on the matter, as of this writing, and nothing official has been confirmed. However, considering the kind of pull that the “Laugh Now Cry Later” rapper has in the industry, it would make sense for him to be the one to bring back the long-running teen drama series. I can only hope that given he's a OG cast member, he'll bring the magic of those early TNG seasons to this new project. According to Lobel, though, we'll have to wait and see:
It’s very mysterious. We don’t know what the reboot is gonna look like, but we just know it’s happening, details TBD.
This proposed reboot wouldn’t be Drake’s first attempt at reuniting the original cast of The Next Generation. The certified lover boy staged a high school reunion for his “I’m Upset” music video, managing to recruit 20 of his former co-stars. So, if anyone could pull off a reboot, it’s Drake, and it seems like Shane Kippel is already thinking about one story arc he'd love to rectify in a potential continuation series.
Shane Kippel Seemingly Wants To Adjust A Spinner-Related Plot Point
None of the Degrassi teens were perfect, and neither were their storylines. However, some decisions made by these crazy Canadian teens raised eyebrows more than others, and Shane Kippel knows exactly what he'd like to fix.
Kippel’s Spinner is one of the OG Next Generation characters, and he went through a lot during his tenure on Degrassi. However, there was one major Spinner story arc that received considerable pushback from fans, and I love that the Dog Pound actor is not opposed to trying to fix it:
I know a lot of the Spinner fans out there are not happy with the marriage with Emma. I listen to your complaints, I have a suggestion box.
Well, he’s not wrong. Fans like myself are likely of the thinking that Emma should have ended up with Sean, her on-again-off-again soulmate from day 1.
Miriam McDonald, who plays Emma, never had any romantic storyline with Kippel through their decade-long run on Degrassi, until their characters' random marriage. And that’s saying a lot considering all the characters dated each other at some point in the show.
I think this needs to happen, because you can’t have a Degrassi reboot without a Nelson woman. Emma’s mom, played by Amanda Septo, appeared in both early installments of Degrassi in the ‘80s. Her character, Christine "Spike" Nelson, becomes a teen mom. Emma is that baby, linking the two shows together and becoming the whole basis for the show being called The Next Generation.
Maybe this reboot could follow Emma and Spinner’s kid entering junior high, with some adult storylines following the OG actors who'd be in the parental figure roles. Of course, it’s not Degrassi without a little (or a lot) drama right? Whether or not Emma and Spinner stay married in this theoretical reboot, I definitely think Sean should return to Toronto and fight for Emma’s love. Who knows, the fans might end up falling in love with "Spemma" if we are given more than two episodes of them together.
Of course, this all hinges on whether Drake does indeed reboot Degrassi and whether he and his collaborators choose to go in such a direction. At present, all we fans can do is wait and hope that this actually comes to fruition. Franchise devotees can also stream all 14 seasons of The Next Generation now using an HBO Max subscription.
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