The canceled The CW live-action Powerpuff Girls series, Powerpuff has unexpectedly resurfaced as its trailer leaked online, revealing a bizarre take on the beloved cartoon that confirms why the network ultimately shelved the project. The footage showcases an adult-oriented reimagining where the now-grown superhero trio inadvertently caused the death of Mojo, portrayed as a human character rather than the anthropomorphic monkey from the original series. Set years after this incident, the leaked trailer depicts a world where Mojo’s son, Jojo, serves as Mayor of Townsville, and the estranged heroines reluctantly reuniting despite having abandoned their crime-fighting personas for drastically different lives. As the trailer reveals, Buttercup became a firefighter, Bubbles descended into alcoholism while pursuing fame in Hollywood, and Blossom completely disappeared from public life following their tragic mistake.
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The ill-fated series began development at The CW in 2020, with Warner Bros. Television Studios producing and a creative team that included writers Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody. By February 2021, the network officially ordered a pilot directed by Maggie Kiley, assembling a cast that featured Chloe Bennet as Blossom, Dove Cameron as Bubbles, and Yana Perrault as Buttercup, with Donald Faison playing Professor Utonium and original series narrator Tom Kenny reprising his voice role. The project aimed to transform the Cartoon Network icons into “disillusioned twentysomethings” resentful of childhoods sacrificed to crime-fighting, who would eventually reunite when Townsville faced a new threat.
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The leaked trailer, running longer than three minutes, is the perfect proof of concept. It retells the story of the Powerpuff Girls growing up and becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their superhero lives. The acting is purposely stiff, and the creative team was consciously aiming at a satirical tone. However, it’s hard to imagine the cringe-like humor carrying a whole series on its back, even though the concept of making an adult version of the Powerpuff Girls is curious.
Why did the Live-Action Powerpuff Girls Show Get Cancelled?
The adaptation faced immediate hurdles when a script leak generated overwhelming negative reactions online, prompting The CW to announce a creative overhaul of the live-action Powerpuff Girls series. “The reason you do pilots is because sometimes things miss, and this was just a miss,” former CW president Mark Pedowitz explained in 2021. “In this case, the pilot didn’t work. But because we see there are enough elements in there, we wanted to give it another shot. Tonally, it might’ve felt a little too campy. It didn’t feel as rooted in reality as it might’ve felt.”
Despite initial commitment to reworking the concept, circumstances continued to deteriorate as Bennet departed the Powerpuff Girls series citing scheduling conflicts. By May 2023, The CW’s new majority owners, Nexstar Media Group, officially canceled the series and returned the rights to Warner Bros. Television. Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken later revealed fundamental concerns about the adaptation’s premise, saying, “When you turn them into adults, they’re no longer the Powerpuff Girls because if they’re adults, that’s just three super girls who didn’t have to deal with being kids. That’s a completely different show.”
Some Powerpuff Girls cast members have defended the production. “Let me just say that what we shot, I loved, and that was one of the most fun things, and I think whatever you thought it was gonna be, it wasn’t gonna be that, and it was very campy and very sexy and very fun,” Cameron said after the cancellation. Co-creator Cody also explained that “making the Powerpuff Girls adults was a challenge, because it would have probably been easier to just do a straight live-action adaptation of the existing show,” adding that “we wanted to do something kind of weird.” Now that the trailer has leaked, we can all agree that the result is indeed weird.
What did you think about the leaked trailer of the live-action Powerpuff Girls series? Do you think the concept could have succeeded in a full season? Let us know in the comments!
