‘The Powerpuff Girls’ Live-Action, ‘Riverdale’-Style Series Gets Pilot Order from The CW

The CW is moving forward with a live-action series based on The Powerpuff Girls animated series, which will add Riverdale-style darkness to the recipe of sugar, spice, everything nice and Chemical X. Last week, The CW put in a pilot order for the project, alongside pilot orders for Ava DuVernay’s comic book series Naomi and a reboot of The 4400. If these projects make it past the pilot stage, they will likely air during the 2021-2022 television season, notes Variety.

News of the Powerpuff Girls project first surfaced in August. It will tell the story of Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles as twentysomethings who are not happy with spending their childhood fighting crime at the whim of Professor Utionium. However, the world needs them to reunite to save everyone, and they have to put their differences aside to do it. The project was created by writers and executive producers Diablo Cody and Heather Regnier. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden are also executive producers. Warner Bros. Television is the studio behind the project.

Craig McCracken created The Powerpuff Girls animated series, which originally aired from 1998 to 2005 on Cartoon Network. There was also a 2002 feature film, follow-up specials, and a 2016 reboot series. The original voice cast featured Cathy Cavadini as Blossom, Tara Strong as Bubbles, and E.G. Daily as Buttercup. The trio was created when their father, Professor Utonium, accidentally added Chemical X to his batch of sugar, spice, and everything nice that he was using to create the “perfect little girl.” They used their superpowers to save the city of Townsville.

The other projects The CW is moving forward with are The 4400, Noami, and an untitled religion-themed project. The 4400 is a reboot of the 2004-2007 cult series that ran on USA Network. The series centers on a group of marginalized people who vanished in the last 100 years and suddenly reappear without aging a day. The group has a few upgrades, and they have to learn why they were sent back to earth.

Naomi is based on a recently-created DC Comics character, a teen whose town is shaken by a supernatural event. DuVernay and Jill Blankenship are set to write and executive produce. The Naomi character was introduced in a 2019 series by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker, and Jamal Campbell. The religious-themed dramedy was created by Claire Rothrock and Ryann Weir and tells the story of two millennial nuns from different backgrounds who become friends and develop a better understanding of their faith.