The Powerpuff Girls Live-Action Reboot in the Works: Reports

The Powerpuff Girls is being rebooted. Multiple reports say that a live-action reimagining of the Cartoon Network series is in the works at The CW — the US home of the Arrowverse — under the aegis of Arrowverse architect Greg Berlanti. The Powerpuff Girls reboot will reportedly centre on the three titular superheroes who lost their childhood to fighting crime in Townsville, USA and have become disillusioned in their twenties. The description continues: “Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?”

Variety and Deadline both brought word of a potential Powerpuff Girls live-action reboot at the same time, carrying the same description. Berlanti will serve as executive producer alongside writers Diablo Cody and Heather Regnier (for Vita Vera Films), and Berlanti Productions' Sarah Schechter and David Madden. The Powerpuff Girls' grown-up live-action version will be produced by Warner Bros. Television, a sister company of Cartoon Network under the WarnerMedia umbrella, which in turn is owned by US telecommunications giant AT&T.

For Berlanti, The Powerpuff Girls' mature live-action reboot fits the mould of what he's been doing at The CW. He has helped develop several female superhero properties for the network, such as Batwoman and Supergirl, and he was also involved with Riverdale, the grown-up take on Archie Comics, also at The CW.

Cody is best known for her debut film script Juno (2007) with Ellen Page that won her the Oscar and the BAFTA for best original screenplay. Since then, Cody has written the Megan Fox-starrer Jennifer's Body (2009), the Showtime series United States of Tara (2009–11), the Charlize Theron-led Young Adult (2011) and Tully (2018), and the Amazon series One Mississippi (2015–17). Regnier has worked on the TNT series Falling Skies (2012–13), the Fox series Sleepy Hollow (2013–16), and the 2019 Veronica Mars reboot.

Created by Craig McCracken, The Powerpuff Girls was about three kindergarten-aged superpowered girls — Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup — who lived with their scientist father and creator Professor Utonium in the fictional major American city of Townsville. Utonium had set out to create the “perfect little girl” with a mix of “sugar, spice, and everything nice” but ended up with three girls after he spilled “Chemical X” into the mixture. Their powers come from Chemical X and their personalities take after the compounds: Bubbles (sugar), Buttercup (spice), and Blossom (everything nice).

The Powerpuff Girls ran for six seasons worth 78 episodes, originally airing between 1998 and 2005 on Cartoon Network in the US. The animated series also aired on Cartoon Network in India, and was available in both English and Hindi. All six seasons are streaming on Voot Kids in India; five seasons — except the first — are also available on Amazon Prime Video. The Powerpuff Girls won two Emmys during its run, and has previously been rebooted as a cartoon in 2016, also on Cartoon Network.

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