In September of 2022, when Peacock announced that the prophecy of “six seasons and a movie” would come true, the news included the return of Community cast members such as Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong.
This left a sea of bitter-sweet mixed emotions in fans hearts, who were looking for three key cast members who were not yet attached to star: Chevy Chase as Pierce, Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley, and the always-busy triple (or quadruple?) threat Donald Glover.
However, Joel McHale has now confirmed that Glover is “coming back” as Troy Barnes during an appearance on podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa.
“The fact that we even got Donald to do it… that was the big piece,” said McHale.
“I think everyone’s coming back” added McHale, who plays the quote on quote leader of the motley crew of community college misfits.
‘Troy and Abed in a moooovie’
Community die-hards have been clinging to anything that points to Glover’s attachment to the project, with the biggest bombshell prior to McHale’s announcement being in a GQ interview with the This is America rapper in April of this year.
When asked about the film post-announcement, Glover said “We’re supposed to be shooting it soon”.
“Haven’t seen a script, don’t know. In true Dan [Harmon] fashion, will probably get it on the first day. It’s supposed to be happening, but I know just as much about it as you do.”
At the time, the show’s creator Dan Harmon gave us little confirmation of this, saying “Donald is coming, based on word of mouth.”
Months later, with McHale confirming the above with (likely) a concrete idea on what the movie will entail, fans are set to watch the right version of the most highly anticipated TV-to-film jump in modern history.
What about Shirley and Pierce?
Regarding Chevy Chase’s return, it’s not likely. Apart from the character he played being killed off in the show’s fifth season- Chase was notoriously difficult to work with on the Community set, ultimately being booted off the show after making racist remarks to his co-stars Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown.
“I don’t even know if it’s legal for him to come back,” said Harmon, at New York ComicCon last year.
Yvette Nicole Brown however, has always responded positively to the idea of reprising her role as study-group mom Shirley. This plus McHale’s “I think everyone’s coming back”, means you can more than expect her to return.
Jon Oliver also reportedly “would like to do the movie if he could pop in when he had a break from Last Week Tonight” says one Reddit user, who got the answer during a Q&A at a LWT taping.
Now that all the pieces are seemingly in motion, they just have to manage pulling it off. I mean, the show started in 2009 and ended 8 years ago, but the hype and demand for the major motion picture has only gotten stronger. No pressure.
The project is set to begin filming next summer.