Well, if you were morbidly curious about seeing the long-gestating, live-action Powerpuff Girls project, you’re officially out of luck. Sources now say that the project is completely axed.
Following the CW’s decision to hand the project back over to the studio back in May, TVLine has confirmed via insider sources that the project is no longer being developed at Warner Bros. TV. This isn’t too big of a shock — the initial pilot, starring Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault, was not picked up for series when it landed in executives’ laps back in 2021 and has been stuck in pre-production for a while.
Numerous rumors have swirled about the series, which has become a fascination for some. For instance, speculation arose that The Powerpuff Girls would feature a connection to the Arrowverse, despite DC not owning the Powerpuff Girls.
More speculation began when Bennet exited the project shortly after the pilot was passed over. The loss of one of its main stars led many to believe the project would be shelved soon after, but the CW pressed on with production, seemingly overhauling it.
Of course, the series also suffered a major setback right out of the gate when its pilot script was allegedly leaked, sparking numerous think-pieces, memes, and articles. Among the changes reported in that version include Bubbles touring around convention spaces after her fame has faded, the Powerpuff Girls being estranged from Professor Utonium due to their exploitation in their youth (the script states that the cartoon was an animated piece of merchandising for the ‘real’ Powerpuff Girls), and Mojo Jojo being changed from a chimpanzee into a human who also happens to be the Mayor of Townsville.
While it’s unfortunate that the series didn’t get a chance to show what it was capable of, maybe it’s for the best that The Powerpuff Girls ultimately didn’t come to fruition. The original series was created by Craig McCracken — who originally dubbed them the Whoopass Girls — and was incredibly subversive for its age. The Powerpuff Girls were unapologetically little girls who fought crime, and, for the most part, it was always pretty light-hearted.
If the rumors were true, the series would’ve become a pretty generic CW series. Aging the Powerpuff Girls up could work, but it doesn’t seem like the series was going to actually use a slightly more mature version of girls’ personalities in their version of the franchise. If the leaked script is real, then the Powerpuff Girls would have been little more than their archetypes.