Chad Powers: Glen Powell’s Hulu Comedy Draws Mixed Reviews for an Obnoxious Alter Ego

Chad Powers, a six-episode Hulu comedy co-created by Glen Powell and Michael Waldron, follows Russ Holliday, a former college quarterback who hopes to mount a comeback eight years after a Rose Bowl humiliation. To maximize his chances, he disguises himself with prosthetics and becomes Chad Powers, a persona designed to land him an emergency open tryout with a college team. The series is built around a viral stunt from Eli Manning’s ESPN show Eli’s Places, and features Eli and Peyton Manning among its executive producers, a reminder of Disney’s cross-promotional reach that underpins Powell’s project. Powell helped write and produce Chad Powers, signaling his growing status as an A-list multi-hyphenate in Hollywood.

In its premiere, the show leans hard into the dichotomy between Russ and Chad. Powell plays both sides, with the character of Chad immediately displaying the worst impulses of a washed-up star: a shaky signature, a cartoonish accent, and a series of cringe-worthy antics that culminate in a chaotic sideline moment. The early crisis—an on-field mishap that triggers a tragic turn when the boy in a wheelchair that Chad’s actions affect dies—sparks a wave of public backlash and a swift decision by the program to distance itself. Russ clings to the Chad persona for a time, aided by a team mascot and a few supportive insiders, but the rapid turn from admiration to revulsion exposes the fragility of the stunt-based premise. The cast includes Steve Zahn as the weary head coach Jake Hudson, Perry Mattfeld as Ricky, a rising staffer and love interest, and Wynn Everett as Tricia, a booster with a encyclopedic knowledge of power and influence. The show’s visual energy rides on the prosthetics, the glossy football sequences, and Powell’s bid to make the Chad persona feel lived-in, even when the writing keeps the joke stridently one-note.

Critics have drawn clear parallels between Chad Powers and Ted Lasso, noting that the series borrows its warmth and ensemble dynamics from a widely beloved template rather than forging a distinct voice of its own. The supporting characters—Russ’s coach, Ricky, Danny the mascot, and Tricia—are positioned to catalyze innate growth in the lead, but the scripting often leans into familiar beats about loyal, imperfect men learning to show themselves and their loved ones care. The result, as described by Time’s review, is a show that is warm but not particularly sharp, with a narrative arc that privileges lighthearted father-son or mentor-mentee dynamics over riskier, more original storytelling. Powell’s performance registers the most promise: he can pivot between the quiet, academia-leaning professor and the sharper-edged, larger-than-life Chad, yet the material sometimes limits the scope of that range, turning potential nuance into broad sitcom timing.

Beyond the premiere, the Time critique situates Chad Powers within Powell’s broader career arc. Powell has already demonstrated range in features like Hit Man, a 2024 Richard Linklater crime comedy in which he plays a timid professor who is recruited to impersonate an assassin; he also helped shape the project as writer and producer. His other recent hits—Anyone But You, a rom-com that resonated with younger audiences, and the revival of the Twisters franchise—underscore Powell’s star ascent and his willingness to shepherd projects from conception to screen. Chad Powers, then, reads less as a breakthrough series and more as a test of Powell’s ability to balance star charisma with a distinct show identity. The six episodes aim to showcase his versatility, but the creative material asks more of the premise than the characters can sustain.

Overall, the reception reflects a broader tension in contemporary culture and entertainment: how far a charismatic lead and a viral-origin concept can carry a show when the surrounding material relies on familiar templates. The question for Powell moving forward is whether future projects can channel the same star power into more distinctive storytelling. As a showcase of the actor’s range and a sign of his production ambitions, Chad Powers marks an important waypoint in Powell’s evolving career, even if the six-episode series itself lands with a mixed reception. In a streaming landscape that prizes quick, shareable premises, Chad Powers embodies both the ambition and the risk of a modern celebrity-driven comedy, a reminder that charm alone is seldom enough to sustain a series ambition across a full season.