The trailer for The CW’s Powerpuff Girls reboot is now online. The original animated show, which followed a trio of little girl superheroes who defend the town of Townsville, was created by Craig McCracken and ran for six seasons between 1998 and 2005. The live-action Powerpuff Girls, which was being developed at The CW in 2020 with executive producer Greg Berlanti and writer Diablo Cody, was set to star Chloe Bennet, Yana Perrault, and Dove Cameron as twentysomething versions of Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles. However, it never made it past the pilot stage.
Lost Media Busters has now unearthed the full-length trailer for the live-action reboot, which was retitled Powerpuff ahead of production on the pilot, which itself was later retooled before the series was officially cancelled in 2023. The trailer introduces the premise that the original animated series was an adaptation of the exploits of three real heroes created by Professor Utonium (Donald Faison), who have grown into disaffected adults after the public turned on them.
The clip then showcases the characters using their powers and accidentally killing Mojo, angering his son, the future mayor Jojo (Nicholas Podany). The girls all deal with the incident differently, with Blossom abandoning her sisters and the town, Buttercup becoming a firefighter, and Bubbles selling merch on Hollywood Boulevard. After the Professor encourages them to reunite, they reluctantly do so when Jojo unleashes a hypnotic power that turns the town into aggressive, violent rioters. The trailer also teases a mechanical monster and a love-hate relationship between Jojo and Blossom. Watch the video below:
What This Means For Powerpuff
It Likely Would Not Have Survived Long
This trailer offers a glimpse into what the show might have looked like. It has similar aesthetics to the popular interconnected superhero franchise known as the Arrowverse, in which Greg Berlanti was also involved, which indicates that it could potentially have become a hit. However, if it had made it to air, it likely would not have lasted very long. The network was put up for sale and acquired by Nexstar in 2022, a process that led to a mass cancellation of CW shows, including the majority of the Arrowverse, clearing all but a few scripted series from their slate.
The Arrowverse included the CW shows Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and more.
It is also possible that some of the choices made in the reboot would have alienated fans of the original Powerpuff Girls. While it seems likely that the series would have eventually introduced an element that transforms Jojo into a chimpanzee in honor of the original cartoon character Mojo Jojo, the fact that Jojo is a human, the mayor, and in love with Blossom, veers farther from the original canon than any other element of the live-action series.
Our Take On The Powerpuff Trailer
The Show’s Cast Has Thrived Elsewhere
While the Powerpuff Girls reboot could have been a springboard for its young cast, the trailer reveals that the show may not have been strong enough to survive the impending culling at The CW. However, all three stars have found other major roles in 2021 and beyond, with Cameron joining the Schmigadoon cast as a pair of memorable characters, Bennet reprising her animated movie role as Yi in Abominable and the Invisible City and Perrault joining the cast of Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill.
Source: Lost Media Busters
Powerpuff Girls
- Release Date
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November 18, 1998
- Network
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Cartoon Network
- Showrunner
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Craig McCracken
- Directors
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Craig McCracken, Brian Larsen, John McIntyre, Randy Myers, Genndy Tartakovsky, Robert Alvarez, Chris Savino
- Writers
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Craig McCracken, Amy Keating Rogers