The Hawk Trailer — Will Ferrell Golf Comedy Hits Netflix July 16
- Jul 11
- 3 min read
Will Ferrell is finally taking his talents to television, and he is doing it on the golf course. Netflix has released the official trailer for The Hawk, a new comedy series starring Ferrell as a washed-up golf legend chasing one last shot at glory, and the series lands on the streamer July 16. The trailer has already racked up hundreds of thousands of views, and the early reaction suggests Ferrell may have found his best sports comedy premise since Talladega Nights.
In The Hawk, Ferrell plays Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, who was the number one ranked golfer in the world back in 2004. Two decades later, Lonnie is grinding through the back nine of his career, refusing to accept that his best days are behind him. His body is telling him to retire. His heart is telling him something very different. With one more major victory needed to complete the career Grand Slam, Lonnie is convinced he is a single stroke away from the greatest comeback in golf history, no matter what anyone around him says.
The trailer leans hard into that delusional optimism that Ferrell has turned into an art form over the course of his career. There are shanked drives, meltdowns on the green, and the unmistakable sight of a middle-aged man in golf slacks who believes the universe owes him one more trophy. It is familiar territory for fans of Ferrell sports comedies, but the long-form series format gives the character room to breathe in a way a two-hour movie never could.
The supporting cast is stacked with comedy veterans. Molly Shannon plays Stacy, Lonnie's foul-mouthed ex-wife, and the trailer makes it clear she gets some of the biggest laughs in the series. The cast also includes Jimmy Tatro, Fortune Feimster, Luke Wilson, Chris Parnell, Katelyn Tarver, and David Hornsby. Ferrell and Shannon are longtime Saturday Night Live castmates, and their chemistry has been a highlight of everything they have done together since the 1990s.
What makes The Hawk a genuine milestone is that it marks Ferrell's first scripted television comedy series as a lead. After decades of dominating movies, from Anchorman to Step Brothers to Blades of Glory, Ferrell created the series himself and serves as executive producer. It is a notable shift for one of the biggest comedy stars of his generation, and it reflects the broader migration of A-list film talent into streaming television.
The production team behind the show is just as notable as the cast. Ferrell executive produces alongside Jessica Elbaum and Alix Taylor for Gloria Sanchez Productions, with Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, and Nena Rodrigue producing for T-Street. Chris Henchy, Harper Steele, David Gordon Green, and Andrew Guest round out the producing team. Johnson, the filmmaker behind Knives Out and its sequels, brings serious prestige credentials to what is, on its surface, a goofy sports comedy.
Sports comedies have been fertile ground for Ferrell throughout his career. He has tackled NASCAR in Talladega Nights, figure skating in Blades of Glory, basketball in Semi-Pro, and soccer in Kicking and Screaming. Golf, with its country club culture, obsessive rituals, and long history of televised meltdowns, feels almost purpose-built for his brand of committed absurdity. The sport has also been enjoying a pop culture moment, with Netflix's own Full Swing documentary series and the rise of celebrity golf content pulling new audiences into the game.
The timing of the release is smart, too. The Hawk arrives on July 16, landing right in the heart of the summer golf season and On the heels of the year's major championships. Golf fans are already primed for stories about aging legends chasing one more win, and Netflix is clearly hoping the show can capture both comedy fans and the sport's growing streaming audience in one swing.
Fan reaction to the trailer has been enthusiastic. Comment sections lit up with comparisons to Happy Gilmore, another beloved golf comedy that got its own sequel on Netflix, and many viewers noted that Ferrell playing a delusional former champion is exactly the kind of role they have been waiting for him to return to. Others pointed to the supporting cast, particularly Shannon and Feimster, as reasons to believe the show has depth beyond its premise.
There is also a real question of whether The Hawk can do for golf what Ted Lasso did for soccer coaching, blending sports comedy with genuine character work over multiple episodes. The trailer hints at more emotional stakes than a typical Ferrell vehicle, with Lonnie confronting age, irrelevance, and the wreckage of his personal life between tee shots. If the series can balance the laughs with that underlying melancholy, it could be a sleeper hit of the summer.
All episodes of The Hawk premiere globally on Netflix on July 16, 2026. Check out the official trailer below to see Ferrell in full golf-slacks glory, and judge for yourself whether Lonnie Hawkins has one more major in him.
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