Chad Powers is coming (back) to the small screen.
The Eli Manning-created character will be the basis of a new Hulu series starring Hollywood star Glen Powell, the streaming service announced on Thursday.
Powers first graced television screens across the country when the former Giants quarterback donned a disguise and new name to try out to walk on the Penn State football team as part of an episode of his docuseries “Eli’s Places.”
The sketch had been a smash hit at the time when it first aired in September 2022 and now Hulu is looking to capitalize on that success with a broader series.
According to a show description reported by Variety, “When bad behavior nukes hotshot QB Russ Holliday’s (Powell) college career, he disguises himself and walks onto a struggling Southern football team as the talented, affable Chad Powers.”
Powell has quickly become a Hollywood heavyweight starring in the recently released romcom “Anyone But You” opposite Sydney Sweeney and he’s slated to star in the upcoming summer blockbuster, “Twisters.”
Powell, along with “Loki” series creator Michael Waldron, will co-create and co-write the half-hour-per-episode series.
“We’re both diehard college football fans,” Powell and Waldron said in a joint statement. “When we saw Eli as Chad Powers, we knew that was the way into a big, fun story about this world. We’re excited to be part of this team, and can’t wait to get Chad in the game. Think fast, run fast.”
Manning said in a statement that he has been surprised how much the Powers character has resonated with football fans and that it has become “not uncommon for fans to scream, ‘Hey Chad!’”
No release date has been set for the new Hulu series.
Powell’s southern charm and charisma have likened him to Hollywood A-lister Matthew McConaughey and in the original sketch that Manning starred in, his look had a very McConaughey-like persona.
Powell donned a similar look when he played the character Finnigan in the 2016 film, “Everybody Wants Some.”
The Hollywood heartthrob also showed off some of his QB skills during scenes in the film “Top Gun: Maverick,” when he played Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin.
However, Manning wasn’t too impressed with what he saw in the 2022 blockbuster.
“I hope Glen is working on his QB skills, I saw him throw a football in Maverick…he has some work to do!!” Manning wrote on X.
Hulu seems to be following a somewhat similar playbook that Apple used in 2019 when it took the “Ted Lasso” character from NBC’s 2013 promotional material promoting the network’s coverage of Premier League soccer and built out an entire show around it.
“Ted Lasso” went on to become a hit for the streaming service.
