‘Chad Powers’ Season 2: Hulu Sets a Return Date and Reveals Glen Powell’s New Disguise

Glen Powell has built one of the more unexpected hit comedies of the past year with ‘Chad Powers,’ a series that turned a viral ESPN sketch into a full-blown Hulu original. The show follows disgraced college quarterback Russ Holliday, who reinvents himself as the affable walk-on Chad Powers after a disastrous mistake ends his career under his real name.

Season one left fans hanging on a major cliffhanger, and ever since, viewers have been waiting to find out exactly how the fallout would play out.

That wait is officially coming to an end. Hulu has confirmed that ‘Chad Powers’ will return for its second season, and the streamer has finally locked in when fans can expect the new episodes to arrive.

Season two of ‘Chad Powers’ is set to premiere on Thursday, September 3, with all six episodes releasing simultaneously on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. That marks a notable change from the rollout of season one, which staggered its episodes weekly, starting with a two-episode premiere on September 30 of last year and continuing through an October 28 finale. This time around, Hulu is letting the entire season drop at once, giving fans the option to binge the whole story in a single sitting.

Along with the release date, Hulu shared several first-look images from the new season, including shots of Chad standing alongside Ricky at the Catfish stadium and another showing him partially disguised with his mouth wide open.

The new season picks up with Russ’s secret identity increasingly at risk, as his odd off-field behavior starts drawing suspicion from Coach Hudson, played by Steve Zahn, and a new character named Gerry, played by Colton Ryan. According to the season’s official synopsis, the walls closing in on Russ’s lie mean that he and Danny, played by Frankie Rodriguez, will need help from the one person who least wants to give it, Ricky, played by Perry Mattfeld, if Chad is going to survive the regular season and lead the Catfish into the College Football Playoff.

The returning cast also includes Quentin Plair as Coach Byrd and Wynn Everett as Tricia Yeager, rounding out the core ensemble that helped make the first season such a surprise hit. Powell continues to executive produce alongside his producing partner Dan Cohen through their Barnstorm Productions banner, while Eli Manning also returns as an executive producer alongside Omaha Productions’ Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, and Ben Brown.

‘Chad Powers’ traces its origins back to the ‘Eli’s Places’ segment produced by ESPN and Omaha Productions, in which Eli Manning famously disguised himself in prosthetics to try out as a walk-on for Penn State’s football team. Powell developed the half-hour comedy series with Michael Waldron, best known for his work on ‘Loki,’ and the two co-wrote the pilot together before Waldron went on to direct the season one finale. The series is produced by 20th Television for Hulu.

Season two’s premiere lands just five days after the start of the actual 2026 college football season, a timing choice that only adds to the show’s blend of real sports culture and scripted comedy. With Ricky now aware of Chad’s true identity and Coach Hudson’s suspicions growing, the new season appears poised to test just how long Russ can keep his elaborate ruse alive while chasing a playoff run for the fictional South Georgia Catfish.

Given how quickly the first season built a following, expectations are high for Powell and the rest of the cast to deliver an equally compelling follow-up, especially with the shift to an all-at-once release format. Whether that binge-friendly approach helps or hurts the show’s ability to build week-to-week buzz remains to be seen once the season actually arrives.

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