The CW’s live-action Powerpuff Girls reboot series has cast Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet, and Yanna Perrault as the eponymous superhero sisters. The new show will follow the network’s recent trend of taking older, classically kid-oriented franchises and relaunching them for older audiences. Shows with similar pitches like Riverdale and Nancy Drew have given The CW a reputation as one of the more prominent young adult TV names. In contrast, DC Arrowverse shows like The Flash and Supergirl have also made the network a hub for superhero content.
The Powerpuff Girls originally aired on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2005. However, it has since spawned extensive spinoff media, such as an anime series, comic books, video games, and a true cartoon revival in 2016. The franchise centers on Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three kindergarten-age girls created in a lab by Professor Utonium. The sisters split their time between learning general life lessons and fighting crime with their superpowers. The Utonium sisters are now getting a live-action revival on The CW, and the stars who will play them have officially been announced.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Dove Cameron (Liv & Maddie) will play Bubbles, Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will play Blossom, and Broadway star Yana Perrault will play Buttercup. A pilot is currently in development from Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), Heather Regnier (Sleepy Hollow), and Arrowverse mastermind Greg Berlanti.
The streak of dark, gritty, young adult-oriented remakes of classic franchises continues with The Powerpuff Girls – a streak that recently has included Netflix’s Winx Club remake Fate: The Winx Saga and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, in addition to The CW’s extensive docket. The responses for such projects have often been polarized, with some fans excited for fresh takes on their favorite shows and others frustrated by the drastic changes. The Powerpuff Girls will likely have to face that same challenge when it premieres, but its talented cast should at least start it in the right direction.
In some ways, The Powerpuff Girls feels like the natural fusion of The CW’s two biggest genres – superhero fiction and teenage drama. With Greg Berlanti and Diablo Cody both on board, the new series could potentially strike that balance quite nicely, leading to another hit for the network. Of course, there’s still a lot that isn’t known about the reboot. Fans of The Powerpuff Girls will have to wait to see the result, but the casting news of Cameron, Bennet, and Perrault is an exciting promise of what’s to come.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter