Few shows seem as essential to the '90s television landscape as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The iconic series, remembered most fondly for its depiction of an entertaining and affluent African-American family — and The Carlton dance move. The show brought to life the Banks family and their quirky Philadelphia cousin, The Fresh Prince, a.k.a. a young Will Smith. With the guidance of his extended family, namely his Uncle Phil (James Avery), Smith's character was successfully able to mature into a fine, young man with some wicked style.
Now, over 20 years since the final episode of the series aired, Smith is unknowingly giving fans a major throwback back to his Fresh Prince days. Twitter has noticed that in a video of Smith completing his life-long bucket list challenge of bungee jumping off Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, he looks EXACTLY like the late Avery, who played his father figure on the show.
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Avery passed away in December of 2013 from complications during open heart surgery. He was only 68. Now, nearly four years later, we see a bit of Avery in Smith, who at age 48, is about the same age Avery was during the show's production. From the greying beard, to the radiant smile, to the total cheesiness of it all, he is giving us major Uncle Phil vibes.
When did Will Smith become Uncle Phil??? pic.twitter.com/XzZrKaxBOj
— Calev (@_calev) March 12, 2017
Now Uncle Phil didn't seem like the bungee jumping type, but if he were... this would totally be him.
Will Smith took a selfie while bungie jumping and he looks like Uncle Phil pic.twitter.com/YPWMtsSAOz
— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) March 14, 2017
Everyone can't help but suggest a reboot after seeing the images. One Twitter user suggested, "Imagine Will Smith bringing back The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, & he plays Uncle Phil & passed the torch to another young bull to play him." Uncle Will, anyone? Even the names sound similar. I'm sure Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton, would be down for a spin-off. And maybe even Smith's kids, Jaden and Willow, would be willing to make make a cameo? Let's make this happen.
Imagine Will Smith bringing back The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, & he plays Uncle Phil & passed the torch to another young bull to play him
— Papí Wancíto (@Mr_LCancer) March 13, 2017
And just for fun, here's the video that introduced us all to Uncle Will.