Will Smith has made it pretty damn clear that he thinks a Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air reboot is a bad idea—that is, once he gave up on a revival. The Bright star couldn’t even be sold on a sequel series, which would potentially see his son Jaden Smith play his character’s son and flip the premise so that the teen is sent to the streets of Philly for some tough love. But it looks like someone might have finally figured a way to overcome Smith’s obstinance. According to TMZ, the company that owns the rights to The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air has filed some trademark applications for the phrase “Fresh Princess” for merchandising as well as a TV show.
That development comes not long after Smith himself posted images of comic artist Howard Russell’s reimagining of the long-running sitcom as an animated series.
These sketches did in fact please Smith, who admitted he’d never contemplated an animated show when he was busy rejecting all those not-so-Fresh ideas. Russell’s work still lists the show as Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, so there’s no real indication that Smith even knows about the gender-swapping premise. But that does leave the door open for Smith’s other royal heir—his daughter and The 1st artist Willow Smith.