When the Community movie was officially announced last September, fans were quick to notice that a couple names were missing from the list of actors who were confirmed to be a part of the feature. The press release included Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong as part of the cast, but there was no mention of either Donald Glover or Yvette Nicole Brown. Fortunately, fans were satiated by optimism from show creator Dan Harmon a couple weeks after the announcement, and now Jeff Winger himself has confirmed that Glover will definitely be back for the film as Troy Barnes.
Joel McHale recently discussed the status of the Community movie as a guest on the podcast Let's Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa, and he acknowledged that the project having Donald Glover involved is a big deal. Glover didn't star in the full run of the show (Troy Barnes sailing off into the sunset with LeVar Burton early in Season 5), but audiences will see his story continue in the long-promised film... either with the rest of the Greendale Community College study group or without them. Making reference to Glover's acclaimed FX series that he made after leaving the NBC sitcom, McHale said,
Donald [Glover]'s coming back and that's really important. The fact that Donald's gonna do it, that was the big piece. But I think everyone's coming back. I mean, so far we're pretty good. And I think that will happen. If not then, you know, Donald will be there. See, it'll just be Donald. It'll just be an episode of Atlanta.
As a die-hard Community fan, obviously getting to see the movie get made is a priority, but, for what it's worth, I certainly wouldn't say no to more of Atlanta beyond the Season 4 finale as a backup plan.
For those who don't recall the details, Troy Barnes left Greendale Community College following the death of Chevy Chase's Pierce Hawthorne. In Pierce's will, Troy was offered the chance to claim a massive inheritance, but the single condition was that he had to complete a sailing voyage around the world. Dan Harmon suggested at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014 that a movie could feature the Community characters rescuing Troy from pirates, but that idea is probably off the table at this point.
In addition to being asked about Donald Glover being in the movie, Joel McHale also addressed whether or not Chevy Chase would be a part of the project – unleashing a tidal wave of sarcasm in the process, referencing behind-the-scenes Community controversy:
Yeah, I don't think so. There wasn't any issues at all when we were making the show.
Chevy Chase's run on Community officially ended after Season 4 (the season that was made following Dan Harmon being fired by NBC), though there was a proverbial hatchet-burying featured in the Season 5 premiere (the season when Harmon came back to the show). Chase did a cameo as Pierce, appearing as a hologram set up as an installation on the Greendale Community College campus. A couple episodes later, in the David Fincher-esque "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics," it was revealed that Pierce had died.
The Community movie, fulfilling the Six Seasons And A Movie "prophecy" from Season 2's "Paradigms of Human Memory," is being developed as an original feature for Peacock – though you presently need either a Netflix subscription or a Hulu subscription if you want to watch all six seasons of the original series. Stay tuned for more updates about the project, which is presently on pause due to the on-going WGA strike.
