The CW has explained its decision not to order the live-action Powerpuff Girls pilot to series. The new show, simply titled Powerpuff, would have starred Chloe Bennett as Blossom, Dove Cameron as Bubbles, and Yana Perrault as Buttercup – all as angsty young adults grappling with the ramifications of their superhero childhoods. Powerpuff is now being reworked for a new, different pilot with the same cast and showrunners.
Reimagining classic kid-oriented franchises for older audiences has been a popular trend in recent years, with shows like Netflix’s Fate: The Winx Saga and DC’s Titans earning notable success with young adult viewers. The CW is perhaps the king of such remakes, leading the way with Riverdale’s dark, absurdist take on Archie Comics, and other similar series like Nancy Drew. Powerpuff was set to be the next entry in the network’s chain of gritty reboots, but now it looks like it may be a bit longer before fans get to watch it for themselves.
It was recently announced that the Powerpuff pilot had not been ordered to series by The CW, and that the show would instead be reworked for a new pilot to iron out some kinks. CW boss Mark Pedowitz has now explained why. Per Deadline, Pedowitz said the delay is simply meant to pit out the best version of Powerpuff possible. He also commented on the level of interest the reboot has generated among viewers:
“The reason we do pilots is sometimes things miss, this was just a miss. We believe in the cast completely, we believe in Diablo and Heather, the writers… in this case, the pilot didn’t work… You learn things and you test things out. In this case we felt let’s take a step back and go back to the drawing board because this is a powerful property, it has engaged a lot of interest and we want to get it right before we put it out.”
A second pilot order is far from a death knell for a TV series, but it does beg some questions about what made the first Powerpuff pilot fall short of the network’s expectations. There has been some notable online backlash to the project, both to the reported “edgy” tone of the show and the costume design glimpsed in set photos. With the core three stars and writers Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody all returning, it would be interesting to know what’s going to change.
With The CW still in something of a rebuilding phase in terms of its original content, Powerpuff Girls could become a flagship franchise if it succeeds. Though longtime stalwarts like The Flash and Riverdale are still going strong, the recent endings of Arrow and Supernatural and the impending finales of Supergirl and Black Lightning have left the network in a bit of a transitionary period. It remains to be seen if Powerpuff can help fill some of that empty space.
