A Different World returns to Netflix with lots of familiar faces
“A Different World,” Netflix and HBCU culture are set to collide again when the Hillman College story returns this fall.
Netflix announced that the sequel to the classic NBC sitcom will premiere on Sept. 24. The new series brings viewers back to Hillman College, the fictional HBCU that helped introduce generations of viewers to Black college life. (Netflix)
The 10-episode comedy centers on Deborah Wayne, played by Tony Award winner Maleah Joi Moon. Deborah is the youngest daughter of Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert, two of the most beloved characters from the original series.
A Different World, with some of the same actors
Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy are back as Dwayne and Whitley. Their return gives the Netflix reboot a direct link to the original show, which aired from 1987 through 1993. The original “A Different World” became a cultural touchstone for HBCU life, campus debates, friendships and young Black adulthood.
Here is a full list of returners.
Which cast members are returning to A Different World?
- Jasmine Guy ( Harlem Nights) as Whitley Gilbert
- Kadeem Hardison ( White Men Can’t Jump) as Dwayne Wayne
- Darryl M. Bell ( School Daze) as Ron Johnson
- Cree Summer ( Atlantis: The Lost Empire) as Freddie Brooks
- Ajai Sanders (Phat Tuesdays, Two Degrees, Are We There Yet?) as Gina Deveaux
- Karen Malina White (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Malcolm & Eddie)as Charmaine Brown
- Charnele Brown (Old Gray Mare, The Reading) as Dr. Kimberly Reese Boyer
- Jenifer Lewis (Black-ish, What’s Love Got to Do with It, GOAT) as Professor Davenport
- Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Star Trek: Lower Decks) as Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor
- Glynn Turman (A Different World, In Treatment) as Colonel Bradford Taylor
- Jada Pinkett Smith (Girls Trip) as Lena James
The series has wrapped filming in Atlanta. It arrives as the original “A Different World” continues to find new audiences through streaming. Netflix previously made all six seasons of the original series available in the United States. (Netflix)
For HBCU fans, the return of Hillman is more than nostalgia. The original series helped make the HBCU experience visible in living rooms across America. Now Netflix gets a chance to reintroduce that world to a generation raised on streaming, social media and a very different campus culture.
Class starts again Sept. 24. Hillman is calling.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 12:57 PM.