Here’s a few pictures in case it helps.

 

Indexing prybar. 2 of them. They will net you much more leverage than a screwdriver or regular prybar.

 

^this but there isn't a ton of room in there for two pry bars ymmv though.

When you pry.. and you'll need to pry.. obviously be careful where you pry. You don't want to go cracking your front diff housing and making the situation worse. You're also trying to pull the housing straight out and not at a 45° angle so when you're prying, consider how you're applying that force.

I doubt anything got mangled in there. It's just being obtuse. I've run into a few that were a real pain to get out. Those cheap pry bars with the chisel type end and the 30° bend really come in clutch for the job you're doing.

 

can you tap it out by using a wooden dowl through the differential from the other side?

 

Drop the exhaust out of the way. Get a 3' pry bar that you can hammer on. With a shallow angle get the end of the bar on the stub shaft and smack it good with a 5 lb hammer.

 

Use a wooden or plastic shim to place on the diff where your fulcrum will be, so the full-force of the prybar will not be on the diff.

 

Update: I got a couple indexing prybars, a sledge hammer, and just to try my luck I got a bearing puller. No dice. The pry bars managed to get it to come out a LITTLE, but absolutely no further. I can’t get them to stay in place to hit them with a hammer or the sledge. The bearing puller is basically useless for this application, I dremeled some slots for it to grab onto but the legs just aren’t long enough and it keeps slipping out of place.

And now the other axle is jammed up, can’t get either front one to spin. I’m anxious about pulling that other axle out again in case it also gets stuck, and it’s the new one I really don’t want to break. I’ll try getting it out tomorrow to hammer through the diff as a last resort if I can’t get it out today with the pry bars.

 

I ran into the same problem on my 2007 Outback. When I bought it, it had been in an accident and got hit hard in the driver side wheel and suspension area. It pushed the inner joint of the axle considerably further into the differential than it’s meant to be. The axle was an aftermarket which I’ve never had good luck getting them out of the differential to begin with. OEM axles are a breeze to remove from the differential with a short pry bar and very little effort.

Anyway, I ended up using this CV Joint Puller from Autozone.

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-and-specialty-tools/ball-joint-installer-remover-tool/specialty-products-cv-joint-puller-and-remover-tool/579529_0_0

It’s meant to be used at the end of a slide hammer. You can’t tell from the picture but it’s got a slight curve to it. I ended up using it by itself as a wedge. Slide it in between the joint and the differential case and tap lightly with a mini sledgehammer rotating the joint if you can. Before using this I tried everything that I could think of using and after a few hours the joint was still stuck. With this tool I removed the joint in about 30 seconds. I use it every time I need to remove an aftermarket axle.

 

So I used to kinda laugh a little about folks not being able to get axles out.. I mean.. I never had a problem at all. A little prying here and there and boom--out she come.

That is until today.

This MFR would not budge for nothing. Usually I can get them to pop out just by tugging on the shaft (lol) out towards the hub but on this one the shaft and all it's guts pulled out of the housing, leaving said housing and stub in the front diff. Prying, spinning and prying, double prybar prying, prying while praying, prying while crying, notta.

Found this thread, saw the suggestion to use that cv axle puller above, found it at oriellys free (after it gets returned) and literally the thing was out in 30 seconds.

I wasted hours today fighting that damn thing and that tool handled it in seconds.

Just sayin'

 

I've used a long bar and a 5 lb hammer.

 

That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing. I ended up buying the tool. It was well worth the $20 that it was at the time. I figure if it’s sitting in my toolbox, I’ll probably never need it again. But if I didn’t have it…