Joel McHale is giving his word that Donald Glover will rejoin ‘Community’.
The former ‘Soup’ host said during Kelly Ripa’s ‘Let’s Talk Off Camera’ podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that Glover will reprise his role as football player Troy in the film adaptation of the beloved NBC sitcom. Glover was not initially on the cast list announced in September 2022 for the film Peacock.
“Donald is coming back and that’s really important,” said McHale. “The fact that Donald will do it, that was the big deal. But I think they will all come back. I mean, we’re pretty good so far. And I think it will. Otherwise, you know, Donald will be there.
McHale added: “You see, it’s just going to be Donald. It’s just going to be an episode of ‘Atlanta’.”
Peacock’s reps declined to comment.
Glover left “Community” in season five. The series continued for one more season and spurred the fan-led #SixSeasonsAndAMovie social media campaign that launched in 2014.
Original stars McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong are all confirmed for the film. Chevy Chase and Yvette Nicole Brown are not among the returning cast members.
McHale reiterated that Chase will not return.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” she said, sarcastically adding, “There were no problems when we were doing the show.”
Chase’s character Pierce was killed off-screen following allegations of racist behavior on set. Series creator Dan Harmon has teased that he might not even be “legal” for Chase to return.
However, lead star and executive producer McHale wants two more familiar faces from the franchise to return: Walton Goggins and Pedro Pascal. Goggins became a guest star following Chase’s firing, and Pascal took over Goggins’ role during a 2020 Zoom table read cast reunion.
“I hope Walton and Pedro come back, but Pedro seems to be the most famous person on the planet right now, so I don’t know,” McHale said.
The production of the film ‘Community’ has been postponed due to the ongoing WGA strike.
