Sugar, spice and everything nice were potentially already at the ready at The CW, but it now appears as though someone’s dropped by with a cup of Chemical X. We’ve learned today that The CW is developing a live action Powerpuff Girls series.
The original show was created by Craig McCracken and was an animated series that followed three young girls fighting crime. This new take on the original Cartoon Network series will find Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup in their 20’s full of resentment over their childhood lost to the world of crime fighting.
The project will be written by executive producer’s Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody. Regnier worked on shows like iZombie and Veronica Mars and Cody is known for titans like Juno, Jennifer’s Body and United States of Tara. The project will be helmed by Greg Berlanti, the person behind The CW’s successful Arrowverse.
Cody is executive producing avia Vita Vera Films and Berlanti Productions' Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden. The studio is Warner Bros. Television, a Cartoon Network sibling that falls under the WarnerMedia umbrella.
The original series ran 78 episodes and 6 seasons from 1998 and 2005. There was also a movie in 2002 and the show was recently rebooted from 2016 to 2019. Details remain sparce at this stage, but The CW has found its success in not only adapting these franchises for new audiences, but by focusing on diversity and inclusion. The most recent adaptation starred Kristin Li, Natalie Palamides and Amanda Leighton as the titular crime fighters, so here’s hoping the casting of the live action roles follows suit.
This is a natural pairing for The CW who has successfully adapted IP targeting younger audiences to suit a more grown up crowd with their Archie adaptation, Riverdale and their various DC television shows. With the world as it is, the idea of young adults struggling with the childhoods they lost to the obligation to fight evil is relatable and could land very well with this network.
Knowing the women are over the whole crime fighting thing, Townsville might be in trouble, so we’ll have to see if they are ready and willing to come back to the city's defense.
