Everyone, please leave Donald Glover alone! The Community movie will happen when it happens

Alright my fellow Community fans, we have something to talk about. And that's the fact that some in this, well, community are not being so nice to a very important actor and character from the beloved sitcom. And that's Donald Glover. The star played Troy Barnes from seasons 1-5 before leaving to pursue his (now successful!) music career under the name Childish Gambino.

With the Community movie thankfully confirmed, Glover has also confirmed his involvement and will be reprising his role. Though it's taking a bit longer than we wanted for the film to come out. And some fans believe he's the reason. Though there's many factors and even if one of them is possibly the actor's schedule, that doesn't mean fans have the right to blame him for the delays. And there's actually many contributing factors as to why things are moving a bit slow.

The show came to an end after six seasons and like Abed liked to say, the optimal completion of a franchise is six seasons and a movie. And now we're getting that! Peacock first confirmed Community: The Movie is happening back in September 2022. So, yes. It's been a while. But here's a few reasons why I think that is.

Why Community: The Movie is possibly taking a while

The first is that it is true Glover has been booked and busy with his music career, as well as expanding his acting and behind-the-scenes roles as well. Look at how well successful Atlanta on Starz was! He's out there achieving his dreams and goals, and we can't fault him for that. At first, his schedule may have been one of the factors that delayed the movie, which he's admitted to. But lately in 2024, that's not the case. In May 2024 while promoting Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Glover was asked about the film when speaking to Deadline. And this is what he said:

"Everybody is hating on me on the internet and it’s not me! They’re like, ‘We know that you’re the reason [for the delay].’ Maybe I was last year — maybe — but not this time."

And that's very true. Don't forget there was the writers strike and actors strike that took place for months in 2023. The writers stopped working from May 2, 2023 to Sept. 27, 2023. Then the actors guild followed from July 14, 2023 to November 9, 2024. Each of them lasted four months, and the actors went back to work after the writers. Plus, just because the strikes ended that doesn't mean everything went back to normal right away. It took months for productions to get back on track, many of which are actually still delayed and recovering from that big loss of time.

Another reason is that creator Dan Harmon hasn't even finished the final script yet. How can the actors come in and film if the script isn't ready? In an interview with Variety, the creator of the series shared an update, and he said that he's currently doing "a final pass on this thing that hopefully makes everybody real excited and happy." Even Harmon himself has other responsibilities and commitments like being the co-creator of adult animated series Rick and Morty.

We're lucky to have such a talented group of actors and creatives behind Community and the movie. That's one of the reasons why the show was so successful! But that also means these awesome and talented people will be busy with other projects. And that's ok! We want to see them succeed. Actor Joel McHale who played Jeff is currently leading his own series, Animal Control as well. So is he to blame for the delays? Of course not.

And even if it's moving a bit slow, Harmon assured fans that "the engine is still moving." I mean for me personally, I'd rather he take his time perfecting the script to deliver a movie that we'll all enjoy. It would be a disappointment if the film was rushed and not written well. I'd prefer to wait than just have something churned out. And because of all these multitude of factors, it's not fair to blame Glover, or anyone, for the delays. Honestly even if it was "his fault," if that's how you want to phrase it, he still shouldn't be receiving hate online for being a successful star and doing his job. And Harmon shares those sentiments:

"I saw where Donald Glover said he’s hearing from fans that they think he’s the reason the movie’s not happening sooner. I immediately wanted to get on my Instagram and say, ‘Stop yelling at Donald! Do you want to scare this guy off?’ He wants to do the movie, stop haranguing him! He’s not the reason, no single human being could be the reason for delays. The frustrating thing is that our engine moves so slowly and so easily gets derailed and stuck. The timescale is so different for us than for the fans. The fans have 900 times more anxiety per minute to feel than this machine that ultimately gives them their movie."

Sometimes, just as Harmon said, it's just the nature of the industry and how long it takes for productions to be made. I mean, just look at Stranger Things! There's at least a two-year gap between each season. And really right now, my fear is that the small group of people who are taking part in these negative actions will scare Glover off. And nobody wants that. So please everyone, let's take a breath and just calm down. We can revel in the fact that Community: The Movie is happening and all the main characters are returning. We're all excited and eager to see our favorite characters back together. But patience is a virtue after all. And I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait!

Other than Glover, all of the main cast members are coming back including Joel McHale as Jeff, Gillian Jacobs as Britta, Danny Pudi as Abed, Alison Brie as Annie, Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley, Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton, and Ken Jeong as Ben Chang. Chevy Chase who played Pierce was killed off in season 4 and will not be returning. The actor had disputes with Glover as well as others during his time on the show.

Stay tuned to Show Snob for updates and news about Community: The Movie. All six seasons of the series are streaming on Peacock.