Community Star Danny Pudi Reveals Marvel Cut Scene of Captain America Punching Him in the Face

Community star Danny Pudi reveals that Marvel cut a scene of Captain America punching him in the face. Now, Joe and Anthony Russo love tossing in Community nods in their work. So, it should come as no surprise that the Abed actor would crop up at some point. But, Pudi told Collider that he actually got decked by Steve Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and had to keep it under wraps. His S.H.I.E.L.D. technician was a source of celebratory glee for a lot of people who loved the NBC sitcom. Imagine the response if he had gotten laid out in the theatrical version. Pudi’s story actually begins with a text from Joe Russo and only gets more ridiculous from there. Winter Soldier is now held by a lot of Marvel fans as one of their favorite films in the MCU, so it’s interesting to hear new details still make their way out.

Pudi began, “I can only speak for myself when I say this, but I got a text from Joe Russo, who was a director of Community at the time, and said, ‘What are you doing on July 4th?’ I said, ‘I think I’m with my family. We might go to this parade.’ And he said, ‘Do you have some time in the afternoon?’ I said, ‘Yeah, well, in the morning we’ll go for this parade and we’re having some hamburgers, but afterwards I’ll stop by.’ He was filming in Manhattan Beach. So I show up at Manhattan Beach, there are no sides, no script. I don’t know what I’m doing. He said, ‘We’d like you just to pop into this scene with Captain America.’ And I said, ‘Great.’

“And then they gave me a sheet of paper, on set, with a couple of lines, and then they made me give them the sheet of paper back. And then Captain America, in one take, punched me, and I was super excited because I thought this was going to be in the movie and I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ I want to take a punch and then I want to be able to stand right back up, you know? Just to be like, ‘Okay, I took a punch. It was hard, but I could get back up after being punched in the face by Captain America.’ None of that made it into the film. (laughter) Months later, I saw the film. I’m in it. All my friends were like, ‘How did that happen?’ I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody I was in it, and it was a surprise, and that’s pretty much how it came to be,” he added.

The Russo Bros. actually told Reel Blend Podcast earlier this year that Winter Soldier had a WWII flashback that got cut as well!

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier actually opened with a battle during WWII in one of the drafts. It was a massive battle that ended with a significant moment for Cap, but then fed into the story. And we ended up cutting that about two months before shooting.”

What other secrets from the film do you think could be lurking out there? Let us know in the comments!