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Right at the mid-season mark of its second chapter, Peacock came through with major surprise news that Bel-Air season 3 is officially on the way. Now, we've got a full first look at the upcoming season as well as a release date — it's summertime in Bel-Air.
ICYMI: Bel-Air is a reimagining of the beloved ‘90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which starred Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself. While Fresh Prince was a half-hour family sitcom, Bel-Air is an hour-long drama.
The dramatic concept of the series is a result of filmmaker and Fresh Prince fan Morgan Cooper’s question of what the seminal sitcom would look like if it were made today. In 2019, Cooper created his answer: a four-minute short film titled Bel-Air that depicted all the characters we know and love in dramatic setting with darker conflict. After the short film-slash-trailer went viral, it caught the eye of Will Smith — and the rest is pretty much history.
“Working with partners that have been so supportive of that vision while bringing their own sensibilities and talent to the project, we were able to create something that we were ultimately all really proud of," Cooper said to Teen Vogue in 2022 of the show's creative journey. "This show came from a place of passion and wanting to make something meaningful to the culture. It's been quite a journey, but I wouldn't change anything about it.”
The sophomore season of Bel-Air concluded in late April 2023, and ended with some pretty juicy cliffhangers — so it's definitely great news for fans that Will and the Banks family's stories won't end there. Below, we've compiled a guide of everything you need to know about Bel-Air season 3, including new and returning cast, release date, the new trailer, and plot details
The trailer for Bel-Air season 3 finally arrived on July 19, along with a slew of new photos from the upcoming season. The new new trailer is jam-packed with action, romance, and of course, drama.
There's a few huge bombshells, like the return of Will's dad Lou (played by Marlon Wayans), the comeback of Fresh Prince icon Joseph Marcell (who played the original Geoffrey in the ‘90s series), the reveal of Carlton's new, complicated romantic interest, and the seeming deterioration of both Hilary and Jazz’s relationship and Viv and Phil's marriage. Will they all make it through?
“Carlton [introduces] a theme of this season: 'You can't heal what you don't reveal,' which is something he's learning to go through on his own in rehab, in his addiction journey, and [in] his return that I think everybody [will feel the impact of],” showrunner Carla Banks Waddles tells Teen Vogue exclusively. “Will [also] may be wanting to avoid some tough conversations and hard things with his dad, but it's still very much there. Pushing him to heal and go through the fire and have those tough conversations with Lou this season is to see the evolution of what they could become.”
The buzzy trailer also features a show-stopping street race. Series star Jabari Banks — who, ironically, says he has never seen any of the Fast and Furious films — opened up to Teen Vogue about what went into filming a scene of that scale alongside costar Olly Sholotan.
“We get to see this classic Will and Carlton dynamic from the original [series],” says Banks. “They would just do random activities in high stakes environments… We filmed that scene for probably a week and a half, and [there] was over 300 extras, probably 600 people on set. It was sick. It was really, really fun and high energy… I wanted drive the car for real, but they wouldn't let me do that.”
Banks says that he and Sholotan lost their voices from screaming inside the car while filming those scenes, and jokes that they should've taken a page out of the stoic Vin Diesel's book. “You have to do the takes over and over again, and so by take five, we lost our voices. We had multiple cups of tea in the backseat, which you can't see in the camera.”
The fun, bright, dynamic scenes are a departure for Will, who has seen a lot of strife over the last two seasons. Banks says season 3 is Will's “hot boy healing summer.” “On one hand we have this [potential] love triangle between Will, Lisa, and Jackie: hot boy,” explains Banks. “And then we have the healing summer because we find out that Will's father [returns]… That literally sends Will on a way different path. The theme of this season is pivoting and finding out who you are outside of the thing that you thought you were.”
When will Bel-Air season 3 premiere?
Bel-Air season 2 arrived almost exactly a year after Bel-Air season 1. Even though Bel-Air's production schedule was a bit delayed due to the Hollywood strikes, Peacock has confirmed that Bel-Air season 3 will arrive on August 15, 2024, airing weekly with three new episodes at launch.
News broke of Bel-Air's season 3 renewal in March 2023. The official X account for the show shared a video slideshow of the show's cast members holding up the number three with their fingers. “We're halfway through the season and decided why not bless the fans with some more good news?” read the tweet. “#BelAirPeacock is coming back for another season! Don't call it a comeback cuz the kings (and queens) never left!”
Filming began at the top of 2024. In late January, Coco Jones posted a behind-the-scenes look at her season 3 costume fitting in a black-and-white self-shot video uploaded to Instagram Stories. “Hilary loading” she wrote on top of the clip, in which an array of shoe options and a rolling rack of additional costumes can be spotted in the background. Hilary's outfits are unarguably one of the best parts of the series — can you imagine the heat she's going to bring in Europe with Lamarcus?!
What will Bel-Air season 3 be about?
Bel-Air showrunner Carla Banks Waddles promises “pools, beach parties, bonfires, fireworks, Juneteenth celebrations and lots of summer lovin’” in season 3, as well as the exploration of deeper issues that affect Will's world.
“Bel-Air has always been a show with a strong cultural point of view,” Banks Waddles wrote in a previously released statement. “In addition to our soapy teen and family stories, this season we’ll have a lot of great discussion on the gentrification happening in South LA and how so many people are capitalizing on the economy at the cost of the community. And this convo will become a backdrop through the season. The writing team dug deep into their own lives to craft stories that will resonate with our audience.”
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Banks Waddles described the upcoming season as “emotional, pearl-clutching, and wild.” Series star Jabari Banks chose the three adjectives: “elusive, dangerous, and sexy.” “It's some sexy sh*t happening,” Banks told us, laughing. “We're getting into our sexy era. We start that way [in the first episode of the season]. We're bringing sexy back this summer.”
The entire main cast you know and love is returning for Bel-Air season 3 — but get ready to welcome some newer faces, too. That's right: Jabari Banks (who plays Will), Olly Sholotan (Carlton Banks), Coco Jones (Hilary Banks), Akira Akbar (Ashley Banks), Adrian Holmes (Phillip Banks), Cassandra Freeman (Vivian Banks), Jordan L. Jones (Jazz), Jimmy Akingbola (Geoffrey), and Simone Joy (Lisa Wilkes) are confirmed to return for the third season.
Recurring cast members also confirmed to return are Justin Cornwell as Hilary's NFL star ex-boyfriend Lamarcus, Karrueche Tran as Hilary's influencer frenemy Ivy, Jovian Wade as Geoffrey's estranged son Frederick, and Jazlyn Martin as Will's ex-love interest and Doc's niece Jackie.
New additions to the season 3 cast include Dulé Hill, Alycia Pascual-Peña (previously seen in Moxie, the Saved by the Bell reboot series, and Neon), and rapper Vic Mensa (The Chi). Hill, Mensa, and Pascual-Peña are set to portray the characters Omar Campbell, Quentin, and Amira, respectively. Also joining season 3 are Joseph Marcell in a special guest role and Marlon Wayans as Lou, Will's estranged father.
“Carlton is going to have a love interest this season, which we've never seen him have before,” Carla Banks Waddles tells Teen Vogue exclusively. “Having Alycia join the cast in a very big way is very exciting. Vic Mensa [plays a] sort of a mentor to the boys, and their storyline this season is going to be interesting. Dulé Hill is a part of Uncle Phil's world this season and his storyline as Uncle Phil gets his law firm up and running… This season is just an embarrassment of casting riches. It's going to be a really big season.”
Jabari Banks says that it was “awesome” working with Pascual-Peña, and that viewers “are going to be really, really, really surprised with her character and her arc.” Banks jokes that he was pleasantly surprised at the acting chops of Vic Mensa, as he worked with him before catching up on The Chi.
“Vic was always a joy on set. He's the coolest guy as well. He gets it done. Vic actually surprised me because I know he's acted as well in The Chi, but I hadn't gotten a chance to check it out,” Banks tells Teen Vogue. “But our first scene together, it's me and Olly [Sholotan] and we're talking to Vic, and Vic is just nailing his lines. Nailing them very take, the performance is on. And I'm like, ‘Damn. This guy is good. This guy is cold!’ So I'm excited for everyone to see his performance this season, too.”
Jabari Banks says that it was “awesome” working with Pascual-Peña, and that viewers “are going to be really, really, really surprised with her character and her arc.” Banks jokes that he was pleasantly surprised at the acting chops of Vic Mensa, as he worked with him before catching up on The Chi.
“Vic was always a joy on set. He's the coolest guy as well. He gets it done. Vic actually surprised me because I know he's acted as well in The Chi, but I hadn't gotten a chance to check it out,” Banks tells Teen Vogue. “But our first scene together, it's me and Olly [Sholotan] and we're talking to Vic, and Vic is just nailing his lines. Nailing them very take, the performance is on. And I'm like, ‘Damn. This guy is good. This guy is cold!’ So I'm excited for everyone to see his performance this season, too.”
Can you remind me where Bel-Air season 2 left off?
Allow us to jog your memory. So, Bel-Air season 2 started off with a bang, diving straight into the aftermath of season 1's bombshell: Will's father Lou didn't abandon his family, he was actually incarcerated for 13 years. As the Banks family tried to heal, together and apart, growing pains abounded. Will began to navigate his own emotional journey, and struggled to discern who he could trust. His trust issues led him under the wing of Doc Hightower, the mentor-like figure who was actually preying on the dreams of aspiring young basketball players.
Doc's financial shadiness wasn't the only bombshell from the final episodes of season 2. Phil was kissed by his colleague Erika (who was also Viv's old college friend and Phil's ex-girlfriend), and accepted a lunch date with her even after Vivian asked him to keep his distance. Vivian was named the new executive director of the Neeman Fellowship, signaling a brand new chapter of her career.
Ashley has a budding romance with a girl in her class, a foe-turned-friend. Geoffrey is warned to stay away from his son, the child he just relocated after years of estrangement for his safety. Jazz couldn't get over his differences from Hilary, which then led her straight into the arms of her ex-boyfriend Lamarcus — or rather, straight into a first class seat of a baecation to Paris.
Lisa dumped Drew after finding out he sabotaged Carlton for the Founders Award, and Will and Jackie drifted apart… which led to Will and Lisa's heartwarming reconciliation. And Carlton did in fact receive the Founders Award, but used his time at the podium to retract his acceptance and confess to his family, friends, and administrators that he was struggling with a drug addiction and needed help.
The season 2 finale ended with an optimistic Will hoping for a better senior year for him, his cousins, and his friends. “What's summer like in Bel-Air anyway?” he asks Lisa. “Oh, you have no idea,” she responds with a smile, and we get the needle drop of all needle drops: “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.