Sugar, spice, everything nice, chemical x, and the CW? It looks like teen drama network have all the perfect ingredients for a new The Powerpuff Girls live action reboot, including the actresses playing Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup: Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault.
You can’t have a remake without the original. Airing on Cartoon Network from 1998-2005, the show revolved around three kindergarten girls with superpowers, created by their scientist father in a lab. With wacky and crazy villains, the sisters balanced fighting bad guys with lost teeth, bed wetting, and sibling rivalries: normal kid stuff.
Written by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Heather Regnier (Sleepy Hollow, Veronica Mars), this new iteration is more grown up than the crimefighting saga of our youth. Following the trio as disillusioned adults in their twenties, it sounds like the show should be called “The Powerpuff Women.”
Chloe Bennet is set to play Blossom Utonium, the red-headed pink fighter. According to Deadline, “Although she was a spunky, conscientious, Little-Miss-Perfect child who holds several advanced degrees, Blossom’s repressed kiddie-superhero trauma has left her feeling anxious and reclusive, and she aims to become a leader again — this time on her own terms.” Bennet starred in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D for seven seasons.
Rocking Bubble’s blue dress and blonde pigtails is Dove Cameron.Her character’ “sweet-girl disposition won America’s hearts as a child, and she still sparkles as an adult, but her charming exterior belies an unexpected toughness and wit. She’s initially more interested in recapturing her fame than saving the world, but she just might surprise us and herself.” It sounds like the creators are moving away from Bubble’s ditzy characterization and entering into something more “sassy.” Cameron is a long time Disney Channel darling, starring in The Descendants franchise and Liv & Maddie. She had supporting roles in Hairspray Live! and Dumplin’.
TV newcomer Yana Perrault could be grimacing a lot as Buttercup, the green sister. Deadline described her as the”rebellious badass of the Powerpuff Girls in its heyday. More sensitive than her tough exterior suggests, Buttercup has spent her adulthood trying to shed her Powerpuff Girl identity and live an anonymous life.” Though this is Perrault’s first TV gig, she sang and danced on Broadway in the Alanis Morrissette jukebox musical “Jagged Little Pill.”
The entirety of CW’s schedule seems to be superhero shows, reboots, and adaptations. With Riverdale, Walker, Nancy Drew, Charmed, The Flash, and Superman & Lois, it makes sense for the CW to be the new home of The Powerpuff Girls, considering its a superhero-adaptation-reboot hybrid.
My one question is how are the classic cartoon villains going to look? Mojo Jojo and HIM, along with the rest of the trio’s evil adversaries are going to look absolutely ridiculous in the real-world. Wouldn’t that conflict with the edgy, dark, moody vibe plaguing most CW shows? We will have to see when The Powerpuff Girls airs on the CW during the 2021-2022 tv season.
