For the past three years, The CW network did everything it could to bring a live-action version of the Powerpuff Girls to television. But it was followed by one defeat after another.
Those who grew up in the 2000s are likely to have stumbled across The Powerpuff Girls on afternoon TV sooner or later. The animated series, which first aired on Cartoon Network back in 1998, ran for six seasons and came to 78 episodes before a reboot – also animated – followed in 2016.
In August 2020, plans for a live-action adaptation were first revealed. In the slipstream of the superhero boom, the first live-action series of the popular franchise was to be created. Three years later, the project, simply titled Powerpuff, is finally dead, TVLine has learned from its sources.
Fantasy reboot: live-action version of Powerpuff Girls failed twice
As in the original, the story of the Powerpuff series would have revolved around the three super-powered girls Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron and Yana Perrault were cast in the lead roles. In addition, Donald Faison joined the cast as Professor Utonium.
You can watch the trailer for the original here:
In February 2021, the US broadcaster The CW commissioned the production of the pilot episode from the studio Warner Bros. Television. Greg Berlanti, who had previously launched the extremely successful Arrowverse on The CW, was on board as a producer. However, the Powerpuff pilot was not convincing, so that The CW announced in May 2021 that it would completely revise the concept of the series.
Shortly afterwards, the script of the original pilot leaked and caused negative reactions. The next setback followed in August 2021, when Bennet left the project. Deadline conflicts were cited as the reason, but the production problems were much bigger. The CW nevertheless held on to the Powerpuff series for two more years and tried to get a new version in place.
