Created by Felicia Pride.
A Different World premiered on September 24, 2026.
Distributed by Netflix.
A Different World TV Series Review
A Different World returns to Hillman College with a generation of students while keeping the spirit of the original series alive.
The 2026 revival blends comedy, friendship, romance and family expectations with stories about HBCU life.
Maleah Joi Moon gives Deborah Wayne a center, while the cast brings personalities and perspectives to Hillman.
Returning stars such as Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison and Cree Summer add nostalgia without overshadowing the newcomers.
The series sometimes leans on its connection to the original, but its warm humor, contemporary themes and ensemble make the revival an enjoyable continuation for longtime fans and new viewers.
CR Rating: 7.5/10.
A Different World Actors
Maleah Joi Moon as Deborah Wayne
DOB: September 23, 2002.
Bio: American actress and singer born and raised in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey.
She graduated from Franklin High School in 2020 and developed her interest in acting through her local public-school theater program.
Role: Deborah Wayne is the youngest daughter of Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert.
After being rejected by her dream school, Tisch, she enrolls at Hillman College for her freshman year.
Deborah is a free-spirited and creative student with interests in art, music and theater.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Moon played Dorothy in a school production of The Wizard of Oz when she was young.
She also trained as a singer and played instruments including trumpet and French horn.
Notable Works: Hell’s Kitchen, Mystic Christmas, Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase.
Alijah Kai as Rashida Duvall
DOB: March 16, 2004.
Bio: Alijah Kai Haggins, professionally known as Alijah Kai, is an American actress, singer and dancer born in Los Angeles, California.
She is the daughter of actress Tichina Arnold and music producer Carvin Haggins.
Kai began performing at a young age and developed her skills in acting, singing and dance.
Role: Rashida Duvall is a first-generation college student from Compton, California, and a criminal justice major at Hillman College.
She is deeply community-minded, highly responsible and determined to succeed while helping others along the way.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Kai began training at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy at just three years old and has known Debbie Allen since childhood.
Notable Works: Everybody Hates Chris, Survivor’s Remorse, The Sound of Christmas, Runt, Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie.
Cornell Young IV as Shaquille Johnson
DOB: February 14, 2000.
Bio: American actor and former college football player from St. Louis, Missouri.
He grew up as one of seven children and developed an interest in both sports and performing while growing up.
Football initially became his main focus, leading him to attend McKendree University as a wide receiver.
Role: Shaquille Johnson is a star quarterback who chooses to attend Hillman College, an HBCU, despite the expectations surrounding his football career.
His decision is motivated by a promise he made to his late mother.
His father, Ron Johnson, manages his career and has ambitious plans for his son’s future.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Young was a college football player at McKendree University, where he played wide receiver.
Notable Works: Doing Life, Forever, Beyond the Gates.
Jordan Aaron Hall as Amir Rodale
DOB: December 2, 2002.
Bio: American actor whose television career includes appearances in projects such as Pose and The Equalizer.
He has also worked in dramatic roles that have allowed him to build experience portraying young characters dealing with difficult personal circumstances.
Role: Amir Rodale is a psychology major from Harlem who attends Hillman College and quickly becomes part of the student group.
After arriving at Hillman, Amir discovers that the school has a housing shortage and temporarily sleeps on the community couch in Garvey Hall.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Hall has described Amir as a direct and honest character whose humor comes partly from the way he says exactly what he thinks.
Notable Works: Pose, The Equalizer.
Kennedi Reece as Hazel Henry
DOB: November 15, 2003.
Bio: American actress from St. Louis, Missouri.
She developed an interest in performing at a young age and began building her professional acting career through television.
Role: Hazel Henry is a first-year student at Hillman College who comes from a small town and arrives at the university with deeply held religious and traditional values.
She has spent much of her life preparing for the college experience and wants to make her parents proud.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Reece has spoken about approaching Hazel as a character with contradictions rather than treating her as simply sheltered or overly traditional.
Notable Works: Charged.
Chibuikem Uche as Kojo Achebe
DOB: February 19, 2000.
Bio: British-Nigerian actor born in London, England, to Nigerian parents.
He moved with his family to Connecticut when he was eight years old and later studied mathematics and actuarial science.
Role: Kojo Achebe is a Ghanaian-Nigerian fashion merchandising student at Hillman College who is attending the school partly to satisfy his parents’ expectations.
Although his family has a particular future in mind for him, Kojo is naturally entrepreneurial and has already started several businesses.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Before becoming a full-time actor, Uche worked in actuarial science for about three and a half years after studying mathematics and actuarial science.
Notable Works: One of Us Is Lying, All American, The Rookie, East New York.
Vincent Jamal Hooper as Ellington
DOB: N/A.
Bio: American actor and stage performer with experience across television and Broadway.
He has worked in major theatrical productions and has developed a reputation for combining stage presence with television acting.
Role: Ellington is a junior at Hillman College who works as Professor Freddie Brooks’s student assistant and eventually becomes Deborah Wayne’s tutor.
He is confident, intellectual and academically capable, making him noticeably different from the freshman students around him.
Episodes: 8 eps.
Interesting facts: Hooper has extensive Hamilton experience and has played multiple major characters in the musical, including Hamilton, Burr, Lafayette/Jefferson, George Washington and King George III.
Notable Works: Chicago Med, Shots Fired, Hamilton, The Lion King.
Renee Harrison as Candace
DOB: N/A.
Bio: Jamaican-born, New Jersey-raised actress, producer and multi-hyphenate artist based in Los Angeles.
She developed an interest in storytelling at a young age and later trained in theater, earning a BFA from The New School College of Performing Arts, School of Drama.
Role: Candace is a sophomore at Hillman College who serves as a resident advisor at Gilbert Hall and mentors incoming freshmen.
She is highly ambitious, confident and organized, with a strict approach to running her residence hall.
Episodes: 7 eps.
Interesting facts: Harrison is the founder of Black Girls Do Theater, a creative collective and cultural platform focused on Black women and femme-identifying theater artists.
Notable Works: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, All American: Homecoming.
Jasmine Guy as Whitley Gilbert
DOB: March 10, 1962.
Bio: American actress, singer, dancer, director and writer born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.
She began training in dance as a child and attended the Northside School of the Performing Arts in Atlanta before moving to New York as a teenager.
Role: Whitley Gilbert is now Deborah Wayne’s mother and one of Hillman’s most recognizable former students.
After leaving college, Whitley built a life with Dwayne and developed a successful beauty business, eventually becoming a wealthy entrepreneur.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Guy developed Whitley’s distinctive Southern accent partly from the voice of a third-grade teacher she remembered from childhood.
Notable Works: Dead Like Me, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy.
Kadeem Hardison as Dwayne Wayne
DOB: July 24, 1965.
Bio: American actor, director and writer born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York.
He is the only child of Donald McFadden, an art collector, and Bethann Hardison, a pioneering fashion model and later a modeling-agency founder and advocate for diversity in the fashion industry.
Role: Dwayne Wayne returns as Deborah Wayne’s father, a Hillman College alumnus and administrator.
After graduating from Hillman, Dwayne built a high-profile global career with Kineshiwa but eventually became dissatisfied with life in the corporate spotlight.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Hardison has explained that the famous flip-up glasses became part of Dwayne after an executive producer noticed someone wearing similar glasses at a David Bowie concert and suggested incorporating them into the character.
Notable Works: K.C. Undercover, Black Monday, Teenage Bounty Hunters.
Darryl M. Bell as Ron Johnson
DOB: May 10, 1963.
Bio: American actor and producer born in Chicago, Illinois.
He attended Syracuse University and graduated in 1986 before beginning his professional acting career.
His father, Travers J. Bell Jr., was a businessman who became the first Black person to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
Role: Ron Johnson is Shaquille’s father and manager.
He is ambitious about his son’s athletic future and actively tries to guide Shaquille toward major opportunities. At the same time, Ron is deeply protective of his son and wants the best for him.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Bell originally played Ron Johnson in the first season of the original series as a recurring character before becoming part of the main ensemble in later seasons.
Notable Works: Living Single, Homeboys in Outer Space, Cosby.
Cree Summer as Freddie Brooks
DOB: July 7, 1969.
Bio: American-Canadian actress, singer and voice actress born in Los Angeles, California.
She is the daughter of Canadian actor and musician Don Francks and actress Lili Francks, and she grew up largely in Saskatchewan and Toronto, Canada.
Role: Freddie Brooks is now a distinguished law professor at Hillman College and runs her own legal practice.
Unlike the free-spirited student seen in the original series, Freddie has become an experienced attorney and educator who has dedicated her career to helping people understand and pursue justice.
Episodes: 10 eps.
Interesting facts: Summer has said that her childhood creativity was encouraged by spending long periods playing with toys and inventing voices for them.
Notable Works: Tiny Toon Adventures, Codename: Kids Next Door, Abbott Elementary.
More Actors
• Calvin Rowell Jr. as Durag Upperclassman.
• Aysia Moorer as Officer Boo Boo.
• Jonathan Auguste as Treshawn Jackson.
• Dawnn Lewis as Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor.
FAQ – A Different World TV Series
What is A Different World (2026) about?
The series follows Deborah Wayne and her friends as they navigate college, relationships, family expectations and personal growth at Hillman College.
Is A Different World (2026) a reboot or sequel?
A Different World (2026) is a sequel series that continues the world of the original sitcom while introducing a new generation of Hillman College students.
Is the original A Different World cast in the 2026 series?
Yes. Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Cree Summer and Darryl M. Bell are among the original cast members returning for the sequel.
How many episodes are in A Different World Season 1?
Season 1 consists of 10 episodes, with episodes running approximately 30 to 36 minutes.
Where can I watch A Different World (2026)?
A Different World (2026) is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
Conclusion
A Different World (2026) successfully combines the spirit of the original with a fresh generation of Hillman students.
With its humor, relatable college stories and returning favorites, the series offers a warm continuation of the beloved franchise.