What to stream: Track Glen Powell’s path as ‘Twisters’ touches down

It’s the summer of Glen Powell, as he kicked off the 2024 season with the assassin rom-com “Hit Man,” and anchors the midsummer movie moment with the disaster film sequel “Twisters,” hitting theaters this weekend. It has also felt like the year of Powell, as he ushered in 2024 with his late December sleeper hit “Anyone But You,” co-starring white-hot box office star and Spokane native Sydney Sweeney (both “Hit Man” and “Anyone But You” are streaming on Netflix).

But if it feels like Powell popped up out of nowhere, think again. The actor has been steadily building his career since his adolescence, lately with a mix of rom-coms, action movies and period pieces demonstrating his charismatic screen presence. He’s got the ability to support an ensemble, or steal a whole movie with his charm. If you’re asking, “where have I seen him before?,” here’s a list of Powell’s greatest hits (so far) and where to stream them.

Austin, Texas, native Powell made his first film appearance as a teenager in 2003 as “Long-Fingered Boy” in “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” (streaming on Max and Showtime), directed by local Austin filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. He then snagged a role in “The Great Debaters” (2007) with Denzel Washington, who helped give him a leg up in the industry (stream the film on Freevee, Tubi or the Roku Channel). He also briefly appears as a stockbroker in the 2012 trilogy capper “The Dark Knight Rises” (streaming on Max), and had other small roles in films while building his resume.

But Powell’s breakout year was 2016, when he co-starred in the affable college baseball hangout movie “Everybody Wants Some!!” written and directed by fellow Texan Richard Linklater. Many cinephiles cite this as the first time they took notice of Powell’s star quality, and he is a standout among the ensemble of entertaining jocks. Stream it on Prime Video, Paramount+ or MGM+.

It was also the year of the critical and box office hit “Hidden Figures,” about the Black women who worked as mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s. While the film centers around these characters played by Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer, Powell memorably showed up as astronaut John Glenn. Stream “Hidden Figures” on Disney+.

In 2018, Powell tackled romance with the appealing Netflix rom-com “Set It Up,” co-starring opposite Zoey Deutch. The two young stars play a pair of overworked assistants who attempt to set up their demanding bosses and fall in love in the process. Directed by Claire Scanlon and written by Katie Silberman, Powell and Deutch are perfectly frazzled and perfectly matched. The same year, he also appeared in the World War II period drama “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” as the American boyfriend of Lily James’ main character Juliet. Stream both films on Netflix.

A few years later, Powell took to the skies with two aviation films: the long-awaited and much beloved sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which he played the Iceman-style antagonist Hangman, and “Devotion,” a Korean War drama about the celebrated African American aviator Jesse Brown, with Powell playing his war buddy Tom Hudner. It was with these two films that Powell proved his action movie and dramatic bona fides, and developed a relationship with star Tom Cruise, who has taken him under his wing, so to speak. Stream “Top Gun: Maverick” on Prime Video, Paramount+, MGM+ or rent it elsewhere, and stream “Devotion” on Paramount+ or rent it elsewhere.

With that rundown of Powell’s greatest hits, you’ll be more than ready for his swaggering turn as a “tornado wrangler” in “Twisters,” one of the summer’s most entertaining popcorn flicks.