The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot signs off with a bizarre meta cameo from OG star Will Smith: "That was always something that we wanted to do"

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot has drawn to a close after four seasons, but not before a surprising meta cameo signed off the Peacock streaming series in style.

In the eighth episode of Bel-Air's final season, Will Smith (Jamari Banks) is heading back to Philadelphia to enrol in college. But before he can leave Los Angeles for the City of Brotherly Love, he takes one last look back at the skyline. Then, the Will Smith – presumably a future version of Banks' character – appears and dishes out some much-needed advice to the iteration of the character he made famous back in the 1990s.

"You're going to mess some things up and do some dumb shit, but you’re human," the elder Will Smith tells Banks' Will Smith. "You’ll learn, you’ll grow, and just live and laugh and cry… Life goes by fast. Try to enjoy the ride."

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From there, Will Smith disappears just as quickly as he entered – with Banks' Will getting ready for the next pivotal stage of his life.

"Since day one, that was always something that we wanted to do, and it was just a matter of finding the right moment," Bel-Air creator Morgan Cooper told The Wrap of the climactic moment. "And for that to be the final moment of the series just felt so right. It all led up to that, but was always in the cards.”

Next up for Will Smith (the actor, to be clear) is reprising another role in I Am Legend 2 alongside Michael B. Jordan, though there's still no word on a release date.

For more on what's coming to cinema, check out our guide to upcoming movies.