Glen Powell is enjoying one of the largest moments of his life.
Fresh off leading box-office smashes like Twisters, Hit Man, and of course Top Gun: Maverick with Tom Cruise, he’s solidified his status as Hollywood’s next leading man.
But rather than carrying on his hot streak of blockbuster movies, Powell has surprised audiences by taking a very different role, leading a new small-screen comedy on Disney+ called Chad Powers.
The show, which debuted on September 30, watches Powell vanish under layers of latex and a wig to become the offbeat eponymous character. Chad Powers is a Forrest Gump-esque southern college football star, perpetually nice but agonizingly socially clumsy. One character even calls him “a sweet, perhaps inbred folk hero.” The catch is that Chad doesn’t exist. He is the alter ego of Russ Holliday, a tarnished athlete whose reputation is marked by arrogance, suspicious activities, and a Tesla Cybertruck. After botching a championship in what is repeatedly framed as an “outrageous, improbable, inexplicable, painful loss,” Russ is detested by the populace. Incognito as Chad, however, he perceives an opportunity to redeem himself, subject to keeping his new persona from being discovered.
The idea for Chad Powers originally came from Eli Manning, the former NFL star who disguised himself with outlandish prosthetics in a 2022 segment on his ESPN show Eli’s Places. What began as a prank has now blossomed into a full-fledged comedy series thanks to Powell and co-creator Michael Waldron, best known for Rick and Morty and Marvel’s Loki. In theory, it sounds ridiculous, but in reality, it’s genius. The show finds just the right balance between farce and sentimentality, and it’s as much a human interest story as it is a sports story.
A standout subplot involves Chad teaming up with South Georgia University’s Catfish mascot, Whiskers, who turns out to be Danny, a theatre student played by Frankie A. Rodriguez. Beneath the oversized sea creature costume, Danny brings essential makeup skills to keep Chad’s disguise intact, while also grounding Russ with much-needed honesty. When Chad contemplates plastic surgery in Brazil, Danny delivers a deadpan reality check: “I think you’re having a psychotic break.”
The supporting cast is equally enriching. Steve Zahn stars as harried coach Jake Hudson, whose difficulties spill over from the gridiron in that he must salvage his marriage while dealing with the stresses of his demanding profession. Perry Mattfeld is Ricky, Hudson’s daughter, with a drive to demonstrate her skill and distance herself from accusations of being a “nepo baby.”. Their plotlines serve both emotional and comedic counterpoints, such as one of their many unforgettable moments: Chad pretending to have a medical condition to get out of showering, and bullying Hudson into the cringe-worthy line: “Tape up your peehole!
” Chad Powers is different in that it manages to incorporate genuinely touching emotional beats into its insane comedy. Zahn lends a sense of authenticity to a man pulled thin by professional and personal woes, while Powell somehow makes Chad’s absurdity strangely charming. Moments such as a dog almost exposing Chad by gnawing on his prosthetics have viewers caught between laughing and seriously worrying.
Even mundane moments, like face glue running out, become both funny gags and possible plot turnings.
For Powell, the show is yet another opportunity to prove his range. From having charm and charisma in leading roles in big-budget movies, here he shows vulnerability and goofiness and demonstrates that he is more than a leading man for the big screen. Sure, the premise might have started off as a joke, but the series works because it manages to balance outrageous comedy with emotionally engaging storytelling.
Fundamentally, Chad Powers is a show about redemption, identity, and unexpected friendships, all wrapped in absurdity. What it proves is that the most preposterous of situations can work when presented with sincerity. Powell’s performance holds the show together, and his work with Waldron guarantees that the humor never meanders too far from real emotion. Disney+ might not have been the next logical step for an actor at Powell’s level, but Chad Powers is a shrewd choice. The film shows that the best surprises can be the ones that show us the most about an actor’s range. Despite all its goofiness and laugh-out-loud jokes, Chad Powers is surprisingly full of heart, and with Glen Powell at the helm, it’s both a laugh-out-loud and heartwarming hit.
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