The live-action Powerpuff Girls adaptation coming to The CW has found its Professor Utonium — Donald Faison. The Scrubs alum’s casting was announced on Wednesday, according to a report by The Wrap. In this dark, grown-up version of the series, Faison will play a version of Drake Utonium, who is “determined to repair his relationships with his now-adult daughters.”
Powerpuff Girls has been ordered to pilot at The CW, though there is still no guarantee that the show will make it to air. However, the show is definitely beginning to take shape, as Faison joins Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault in the main cast. The live-action show comes from executive producer Greg Berlanti, behind all of the network’s DC Comics adaptations of recent years. The pilot episode has been titled simply “Powerpuff,” and a report by Variety indicates that the series itself might go by that title if it is picked up.
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Faison is best-known for playing Dr. Christopher Turk on Scrubs from 2001 to 2010. He has appeared in movies including Skyline, Clueless and Remember the Titans, and other TV shows like Ray Donovan, Star Wars Resistance and Emergence. If the Powerpuff adaptation goes as dark as it seems to be going, this will be a major shift to the dramatic for Faison.
Bennet will play Blossom, Cameron will play Bubbles and Perrault will play Buttercup in this fresh take on a Cartoon Network classic. According to The CW, the new pilot finds the three superhero sisters as “disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever??”
The Powerpuff Girls’ original concept was that Professor Utonium created his triplet daughters in his home laboratory but accidentally gave them superpowers in the process. After that, the trio had no choice but to fight crime and save their home, the city of Townsville, whenever called upon.
Exploring these ideas in a grown-up context could go in any number of directions. Fans have seen many deconstructions of the usual superhero tropes in recent years, from Watchmen to The Boys, but The Powerpuff Girls have a unique angle on it. There is also the question of genetic engineering and the responsibilities that come with great power — either to a family or a community.
Wherever the creators decide to go, fans are crossing their fingers that Powerpuff makes it to the series. So far, there is no word on when the pilot will begin filming.
