Joel McHale Says 'Community' Movie Shoots Soon, Confirms Chevy Chase Is A Bully

Joel McHale says the "Community" movie's probably shooting soon, lifting fans' spirits ... but, he's not sharing the set with Chevy Chase anytime soon.

We caught up with the actor in L.A. Friday ... and, we had to ask him about the flick fans have wanted since the show went off the air back in 2015.

JM says the time's finally come 'cause they're shooting the movie either in the fall or early next year ... though he qualifies that a bit since the movie's been promised a couple times before.

Here's where Joel opens up on his old sparring partner Chevy -- telling us he left the show unceremoniously and didn't really wanna be there to begin with, so no way he's coming back.

We ask if Chevy deserves the bully reputation he gets in H'Wood ... and, listen to McHale respond -- saying the guy was always unhappy and adding Chase probably wouldn't argue with the label.

That said, McHale never comes out and says he doesn't want Chevy Chase back ... but, pins it mainly on the TV studio -- a pretty good excuse, we gotta say.

Chevy's one of the most controversial "Community" cast members ... with Donald Glover accusing him of making racist comments toward him and McHale saying the two once wrestled -- which he says led to Chase dislocating his shoulder. So, not surprising he's not in talks to return.

BTW ... Glover recently talked about all the delays with the movie -- telling a group of reporters at an Amazon Prime event his schedule's not holding anything up, so the internet needs to back off!