Glen Powell Won't Suit Up: The Running Man Star Isn't Chasing Superhero Roles

Glen Powell knows everyone wants to cast him as the next big-screen cape, but he is not sprinting toward a superhero suit. He is already getting his alter-ego fix with Chad Powers, and honestly, that is probably the smarter play for him right now.

Powell is doing the superhero thing… just not in a cape

Powell co-created and stars in Hulu's football comedy Chad Powers with Michael Waldron (yep, the Avengers: Doomsday scribe). The show follows a washed-up quarterback who sneaks back into the game under a new identity, complete with carefully applied prosthetics and a fake nose that has to survive tackles. It is a wild idea that plays like a costumed vigilante story, swapped out for stadium lights and playbooks.

"Michael Waldron and I created Chad Powers, and we always conceptualized that as a superhero story. There is very much a Batman/Bruce Wayne thing going on there. There is the super version of you and then there is the version that you can kind of hide from the world."

Talking to Collider, Powell made it clear he loves the secret-identity angle and the early-days, build-it-from-scratch thrill those stories have. That said, he is not chasing a specific comic-book role. He even admitted he does not exactly feel like a superhero in real life, and once a character turns super, he sometimes loses that gut-level connection to them.

So, will he ever suit up for Marvel or DC?

Never say never. Waldron has publicly floated Powell as a killer pick for Richard Rider, aka Nova, one of Marvel's Nova Corps heavy hitters. The catch: plans for that project have been put on ice recently, so if that ever happens, it will not be soon. For now, Powell seems more interested in playing characters who become larger-than-life without crossing into full-on super territory.

Meanwhile, the schedule is stacked

Post-Top Gun: Maverick, Powell has not exactly been hiding. He is headlining Chad Powers right now and gearing up to run for his life in Edgar Wright's new take on The Running Man. He has even said he is taking pointers from Tom Cruise for that one. The release date is set: The Running Man hits theaters on November 14.

• Chad Powers: co-created by Powell and Michael Waldron, now streaming on Hulu; down-and-out QB reinvents himself with a secret identity and prosthetics
• Powell compares the show's dual-identity dynamic to Batman/Bruce Wayne
• He loves origin stories and secret identities but is not chasing any one superhero role
• Waldron once said Powell would be a great Nova (Richard Rider), but that project is currently halted
• The Running Man: Edgar Wright directing, Powell starring, in theaters November 14; yes, Powell is borrowing some Tom Cruise playbook moves

Bottom line: Powell is already playing with the myth-making parts of superhero storytelling, just in his lane. If the right cape comes along, sure, maybe. Until then, he has got a mask, a playbook, and a release date.