Glen Powell Seeks Comedic Redemption for a Washed-Up Quarterback in ‘Chad Powers’ Trailer

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Aug 31

Glen Powell in 'Chad Powers.' **Credit**: **Daniel Delgado/Disney**

The actor transforms under heavy prosthetics in Hulu’s new football comedy, co-produced by Eli and Peyton Manning.

Glen Powell is nearly unrecognizable in the first full-length trailer for Hulu’s Chad Powers, a sports comedy that leans into disguise, deception, and second chances. The actor, fresh off a run of Hollywood leading roles, pivots to full character work here, buried under makeup and prosthetics to play a disgraced quarterback desperate for one more shot at glory.

Powell stars as Russ Holliday, once a rising star in college football until a vanity-driven mistake during a championship game destroyed his career. Eight years later, with his reputation in shambles, he reinvents himself as “Chad Powers” — a fake persona with a real dream to get back on the field.

“South Georgia is having open tryouts? I am going to do a Mrs. Doubtfire, but with football,” Powell quips in the trailer, immediately setting the show’s comedic tone.

The series arrives with heavyweight backing from Eli and Peyton Manning, who executive produce through Omaha Productions. The brothers famously helped launch the concept with Eli’s viral 2022 sketch, where he donned a disguise to attend an open tryout at Penn State. Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that the premise felt ripe for expansion: “What made Eli’s thing so magical is the viewer knew Eli Manning was under the disguise. We were like, OK, let’s Tootsie this thing. Let’s Mrs. Doubtfire it and see how far we can take this lie.”

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Chad Powers debuts September 30 on Hulu with a two-episode premiere, followed by weekly Tuesday releases. Alongside Powell, the creative team includes writer-producer Luvh Rakhe and director Tony Yacenda (American Vandal), with Powell also serving as co-creator and co-writer under his Barnstorm Productions banner.

The show blends sports culture, broad comedy, and the inherent absurdity of one man trying to hide his identity in plain sight. If the trailer is any indication, Powell is leaning into physical comedy as much as heart — turning his character’s desperate quest for redemption into a surprisingly human story of reinvention.