The situation is getting increasing rough for Powerpuff. The CW’s Powerpuff Girl series, featuring the beloved ’90s cartoon characters as disillusioned twenty-somethings, began filming its pilot in Atlanta in April 2021, only to be hit by some surprising news in May: The show would not go to series—at least, not yet. Per Deadline, the highly anticipated production will reshoot its pilot, apparently due to difficulties adapting the live-action series from a cartoon. Since then, the apparent plague on the production has only gotten worse: The headlining trio are down a pastel-colored super-heroine as Chloe Bennet exits her role as Blossom.
For those curious about what exactly led to this mess, the details aren’t quite clear. When news broke that the pilot would be reshot, Warner Bros. TV Group President Channing Dungey released a statement: “We’ve got a trio of terrific actresses at the center of [the show]. I’m not going to say that it hasn’t been a challenge. Bringing a children’s cartoon into live-action adulthood has been a really fine like to walk, but I think we’ve done a pretty great job walking it.”
Now that one of those “terrific actresses” has walked away—apparently due to scheduling conflicts, per The Hollywood Reporter—it’s likely the pilot will take even longer to emerge. Much of the struggle likely can be attributed to the show’s very premise: re-inventing the peppy, innocent, kindergarten-aged Powerpuffs for Powerpuff, which features an older, more contemporary group of sisters who sport moto jackets and unaddressed trauma. The cognitive dissonance at the heart of the series was present from the first photos released from set; the images were roundly teased for their awkward depictions of the girls’ iconic blue, green, and pink dresses, tube socks and Mary Janes.
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A few days later, the CW released its first official look at the show, featuring the leads in modernized outfits (but in their signature colors, of course).
James Acomb/The CW
It seems the show’s costumes will switch between the superhero look and a real-world update, but the disconnect is not encouraging for a show that’s apparently grappling for solid ground. Yet, with Dove Cameron and Yana Perrault still attached as Bubbles and Buttercup, there’s a chance Powerpuff could still be The CW’s next miracle. As the series goes in for an apparently much-needed polish, here’s what else we know so far.
Have any cast members spoken out about reshooting the pilot?
In a recent interview with E! News, Cameron attempted to settle the waters surrounding the first episode. She explained that nothing went catastrophically wrong during the Powerpuff shoot, but that the cast and creators felt the premiere could be (and needed to be) stronger.
“I think because there’s so much attention on [Powerpuff], because of…how beloved the franchise is, people are kind of like looking for something crazy to happen when, like, nothing crazy happened,” she said. “It’s just tonally, it’s something that you really have to get right.”
She later clarified, “We shot an entire pilot. It’s pretty great. We like it. We think we can do better and we have the time and we’re going to go back and get it pitch perfect so that, by the time we actually go to series, we’re shooting something and working off of something that we can hopefully work off of for years.”
What is the grown-up Powerpuff Girls show supposed to be about?
As Variety puts it, the girls, now in their 20s, “resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?”
In March 2021, Variety released new details about how the series is depicting Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup as adults. Here’s how the outlet describes them:
Blossom: “Though she was a spunky, conscientious, Little-Miss-Perfect child who holds several advanced degrees, [Blossom]’s repressed kiddie-superhero trauma has left her feeling anxious and reclusive, and she aims to become a leader again, this time on her own terms.”
Bubbles: “Bubbles’ sweet-girl disposition won America’s hearts as a child. She still sparkles as an adult, but her charming exterior belies an unexpected toughness and wit. She’s initially more interested in recapturing her fame than saving the world, but she just might surprise us and herself.”
Buttercup: “Buttercup was the rebellious badass of The Powerpuff Girls in its heyday. More sensitive than her tough exterior suggests, Buttercup has spent her adulthood trying to shed her Powerpuff Girl identity and live an anonymous life.”
Heather Regnier (former Veronica Mars producer) and Diablo Cody (Juno writer) are writing and executive producing the series. Other executive producers include Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon), Sarah Schechter (Unpregnant), and David Madden (Superman and Lois Lane). Erika Kennair (The Flight Attendant) will also work as a producer on the show. For the pilot, Maggie Kiley (who has directed Katy Keene, Riverdale, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina episodes) is directing and executive producing.
Who is in the cast?
Several roles have been announced so far.
Dove Cameron as Bubbles
Twenty-five-year old actress and singer Dove Cameron will be playing Bubbles. Cameron was a Disney Channel star as a kid, starring in Liv and Maddie and The Descendants films. Bennet and Cameron also worked together before on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Cameron has given a generous look at production on Powerpuff on her Instagram. She shared behind-the-scene photos from the pilot filming on April 3, 2021.
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Yana Perrault as Buttercup
Twenty-five-year old Yana Perrault is making her screen debut with Powerpuff. Perrault is an accomplished Broadway actress; Variety notes that she was in the Alanis Morrissette musical Jagged Little Pill and was cast in Hamilton before the coronavirus pandemic shut down Broadway. When Perrault’s casting was announced, the actress wrote on her Instagram, “Bag secured. ???⚡️ (no really v grateful, this is too dreamy to believe, so many feelings, still processing, on cloud 9) ?”
Donald Faison as Professor Utonium
Donald Faison, the 46-year-old Scrubs and Clueless alum, will play the Powerpuff Girls’ scientist father, who created them in his lab in the original cartoon. According to Variety, Professor Utonium will be “quirky, debonair, and a pinch narcissistic. He is a scientific genius who is immensely proud of the three extraordinary girls he created in his lab. Staring down a midlife crisis, he is determined to repair his relationships with his now-adult daughters.”
Nicholas Podany as Mojo Jojo
Twenty-four-year old Nicholas Podany will play the CW series’ Mojo Jojo, according to Variety. Podany has a Broadway background, having played Albus Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Back in 2012, he also appeared on Hart of Dixie as Max Burgess.
What is this Mojo Jojo, fully named Joseph “Jojo” Mondel Jr, like? Variety wrote, “as a kid, the nerdy, power-hungry, insecure JoJo was obsessed with The Powerpuff Girls, despite his father’s grudge against them. As an adult, JoJo finds his sweetness and rage in constant battle.”
Podany has also shared photos from shooting, posting behind-the-scene pics on April 7. “Mojo and my Gamma (a la merch) are what make me happy today,” he captioned it.
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Robyn Lively as Sarah Bellum
That’s right: Blake’s big sister will play the Mayor’s right-hand woman. Deadline describes the character as “a warm and witty career woman who has a complicated romantic history with Drake. Always a friend to the Powerpuff Girls, she has remained close to them since childhood.”
Lively shared the news on her Instagram with an exuberant caption: “I am BESIDE myself w bubbling, blossoming, buttercup JOY.”
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Tom Kenny as the Narrator
Kenny returns to the role he originated in the 1996 original animated series and the 2016 reboot. You may know him best as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the casting search for a new Blossom will launch in the fall.
When will Powerpuff come out?
It’s unclear at this point what the release date for the show will be, especially now that the pilot is getting a facelift. Fingers crossed it won’t be too long before we get to see our girls flying high.
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