The Community movie is finally happening after all these years, to the excitement of many, but this massive time gap also causes a major problem for the film. "Six seasons and a movie" has been the longstanding moniker for Community fans for a while, with many holding out hope that the study group would reunite for a movie after Community's season 6 cancelation. Luckily, the crew is finally managing to pull off the Community movie, and while most of Greendale's iconic characters will return, there is one major cast issue that the film will have to deal with.
Starting in 2009, the comedy sitcom show Community follows the misadventures of the zany students and staff at Greendale Community College, with the sitcom telling far more fantastical stories than many of its predecessors. The show went through many ups and downs, with showrunner Dan Harmon being fired after season 3, and the show being canceled after season 5, only for it to be renewed and canceled one more time after season 6. Community's iconic cast and many quotable moments have earned the series a cult following, but the Community movie may have trouble maintaining the beloved formula that made the series work.
The Community Movie Needs Its Side Characters
With the show taking place in a community college, Community's cast is full of iconic side characters. Students like Star-Burns, Leonard, Garret, and Magnitude and teachers like Ian Duncan and Buzz Hickey populate the show, being present in many of Community's most iconic scenes. As such, for the Community movie to work, they have to make appearances - but they probably won't.
The Community movie's side character problem comes as a product of the way that the series is formatted. By season 5 of Community, most of the main cast is graduated, and with such a large gap between the series and the movie, most of these side characters have probably graduated as well. It's tough enough to find a story justification for the main cast to reunite for the movie, and even more difficult to do so for all the side characters. Much of Community's comedy comes from its side characters, meaning that the movie will have to find a very difficult balance between its story and its returning side characters.
Who Is Confirmed To Return For The Community Movie?
Most of the Community characters that appeared in all six seasons are confirmed to return for the Community movie, with study group actors Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, and Gillian Jacobs all confirmed to return. Jim Rash and Ken Jeong are also confirmed to return as Dean Pelton and Ben Change respectively. Strangely, there are rumors that Keith David's Elroy Patashnik will also return - a character that only appeared in Community's sixth and final season.
Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown are not yet confirmed to return for the Community movie, meaning that there may be two key members missing from the study group. Although Chevy Chase played study group member Pierce Hawthorne in Community's first five seasons, his character's death and the reported bad blood between the actor and the crew and cast of Community makes his return incredibly unlikely. While there isn't much news on many of Community's side characters, many are hoping that the beloved supporting cast will return for the Community movie.