If there’s one thing Americans like arguing about, it’s football. But this one isn’t about the Chiefs and the 49ers (or all of the Taylor Swift in between), but rather the Giants and…Top Gun? That’s right, one of the NFL’s most famous quarterbacks and the star of one of the highest-grossing films of the decade have clashed, prompting a brand new debate: Who handles a football better, Eli Manning or Glen Powell? But this one won’t be settled on the gridiron.
Glen Powell and Eli Manning had a humorous exchange soon after it was announced that the actor would be starring in an upcoming Hulu comedy series spawned from Manning’s own fictional undercover football wannabe. In his jab, Manning wrote, “I hope Glen is working on his QB skills, I saw him throw a football in Maverick…he has some work to do!!” Ouch! Powell quickly fired back with, “I saved America and you’re nitpicking me about the long ball. Talk to me when you win a championship lathered in coconut oil…”
This is of course in reference to the scene in Top Gun: Maverick in which a number of the male cast members — including Twisters star Glen Powell — have a shirtless game of beach football, itself a play on the original’s iconic volleyball scene.
As stated, Chad Powers has its origins in Manning, who played the potential Penn State recruit in a piece from his series from ESPN+’s Eli’s Places. For the series, Glen Powell will play Russ Powell, who, having seen his dreams of college ball disappear due to poor behavior, disguises himself as the titular character to play for another team.
On the project, Powell and co-creator Michael Waldron (Loki) said, “We’re both diehard college football fans…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.”
Since we’ll have to wait to see how Chad Powers translates to a scripted comedy series, we should at least get a modified quarterback challenge between Glen Powell and Eli Manning in the meantime.
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