Live-Action POWERPUFF GIRLS No Longer in Development

Remember how The CW was developing a live-action Powerpuff Girls series? Then they pressed pause in May 2021 to rework the pilot with the existing cast and creative team. Last we heard the network planned to film a new pilot to replace the one that was, in former CW president Mark Pedowitz’s terms, “too campy.”. TVLine confirmed during Thursday Upfronts, however, that The CW is no longer developing or redeveloping the live-action Powerpuff Girls.

The series, called Powerpuff, would have focused on the girls as adults. Specifically, the heroes were “disillusioned twenty-somethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting.” The cast included Chloe Bennet as Blossom, Dove Cameron as Bubbles, and Yana Perrault as Buttercup. Original narrator Tom Kenny was returning to reprise his role for the live-action series.

The CW’s president of entertainment Brad Schwartz told TVLine, “We’ve already given those back to the studios, so they’re free to develop those and sell them anywhere.”

In addition to Powerpuff, Schwartz referred to Justice U (an Arrowverse spinoff), Jake Chang, and a female-led Zorro series.