Glen Powell wants to prove he is a versatile actor After Hit Man, the six-part comedy Chad Powers arrives on Disney+

Chad Powers is the upcoming six-episode comedy series on Disney+, written and performed by Glen Powell, which has not been particularly well received by critics overseas. The story is that of a modern-day Mrs. Doubtfire, the very inspiration for the protagonist’s idea: Russ Hollyday, a former quarterback who ruined his career with a mistake and made things worse by behaving like a real idiot, something he continued to do for years, only wants to get back on the field. To do so, he will use his father’s prosthetic magic, an Oscar-nominated makeup artist, transforming himself into the eccentric Chad Powers, a naïve and kind football prospect who will allow him not only to return to the field but also to distance himself from his own past. In fact, the deeper point of the series is immediately clear. Russ doesn’t just want to pick up where he left off—he wants to disappear inside the improbable Chad. The story shows how by “metaphorically killing” himself, a man can find something good to preserve, moving away from the carousel of nonsense for which he never knew how to apologize and that forever ruined his image and career.

The emotional endeavor of Chad Powers is simple and draws the straight line that develops the first season’s narrative. But what is most intriguing about the original Hulu show is how it acts as a container for a mix of inputs that feed into it, reshuffled to the point of being returned in a new form. A bit like the protagonist himself, struggling to piece together the (often improbable) fragments of his background to make his act believable—the fun comes when he fails. Among all of them, there is the foundation of Chad Powers: the idea for the series was born from a television prank by former football player and TV host Eli Manning, who in 2022 used facial prosthetics for an episode of his ESPN show Eli's Places.

After Mrs. Doubtfire, the familiarity here has to do with the most surprising and beloved sports comedy of recent years, Ted Lasso, which hovers like a mentor above all the episodes, never overlapping or making the show a carbon copy of the AppleTV+ product, while inevitably drawing inspiration from it. Even the dramedy created by Bill Lawrence and Jason Sudeikis, in fact, originated as a deeper exploration of the character played by the American actor and comedian in a previous series of promotional spots for NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage. And it is no coincidence that someone from the AppleTV+ series team also ended up in Chad Powers: while Powell’s co-creator is his friend and colleague Michael Waldron of Heels and Loki (also co-writer of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday with Stephen McFeely), among the episode directors is Jamie Lee, who was also in the writing room of the show with Jason Sudeikis.

In the large container that is Chad Powers, there is also football, the undisputed star, marking a return for Powell, who especially rose to fame thanks to Top Gun: Maverick, often remembered for its beachside challenge scene with the young recruits of veteran Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise), echoing the equally famous volleyball sequence from the 1986 original. But above all, the connection with Hit Man is the strongest, once again proving two things. First, that Powell wants to establish himself (as he already has) not only as an actor but also as a writer and screenwriter (one of his upcoming projects is a film co-written with Judd Apatow). Second, that he does not want to limit his talent, pursuing projects in which he can disappear completely. With Chad Powers, the magic happens—though only at times.

It takes a great leap of imagination from the audience to believe that no one recognizes the former quarterback posing as a rookie football player—though the absurdity of the deception is precisely what makes it unthinkable that anyone would invent a new identity just to go live on national television. Yet the constant switch between Russ and Chad by the actor confirms a performance skill admirable for its effort, commitment, and execution. Much like his philosophy professor in Richard Linklater’s film who, undercover to catch someone trying to hire a hitman, invented a whole series of disguises and characters to vanish into—an exercise Powell used to both surprise and entertain audiences.

Chad Powers will not be the comedy that revolutionizes the new TV season, which has just wrapped with the Emmy Awards. But it is a diversion that blends the madness of the protagonist’s attempt to reclaim his career with a humor sometimes so implausible and quirky that it makes one smile thanks to the eccentricity of the lead character (a humor that, nowadays, can be described as ‘cringe comedy’). He may only be a star of football rather than comedy, but perhaps he’ll get another shot with another season. Sometimes, after all, you just need to adjust your aim and get a second chance—exactly what Russ/Chad is trying to prove.