Back in 2023, a highly anticipated live-action series featuring the beloved Powerpuff Girls was abruptly canceled by The CW amidst a series of reported issues. Recently, a teaser video surfaced online giving fans a glimpse of what the show could have been, and it's certainly generating buzz.
The video, which was briefly available on the YouTube channel "Lost Media Busters," was quickly taken down due to a copyright claim by Warner Bros. Entertainment. The three-and-a-half-minute trailer introduced the grown-up versions of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, portrayed by Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault, respectively. In the footage, Blossom is depicted as stressed and burnt out, Bubbles struggles with drinking, and Buttercup is portrayed as rebellious and challenging gender norms.
The teaser sets up a dramatic narrative where the trio accidentally kill a human named Mojo and subsequently flee Townsville. Years later, they return to visit their father, Professor Utonium (played by Donald Faison), only to find that Mojo's adult son, Jojo, has become the mayor of Townsville. Jojo has brainwashed the town's residents and is set on revenge. The trailer includes edgy humor, such as Bubbles referencing juggalos and Buttercup's provocative remark about Jojo's vendetta against Blossom.
The CW confirmed to Variety that the footage is authentic, but clarified that this particular trailer was never meant for public release. The live-action Powerpuff Girls series was initially announced in 2020 but faced cancellation in 2023 after multiple challenges, including an unsuccessful pilot and the exit of Chloe Bennet from the project.
CW's chairman and CEO, Mark Pedowitz, commented on the pilot's shortcomings, stating, "The reason you do pilots is because sometimes things miss, and this was just a miss. We believe in the cast completely. We believe in Diablo [Cody] and Heather [Regnier], the writers. We believe in the auspices of Greg Berlanti and Warner studios. In this case, the pilot didn’t work. But because we see there’s enough elements in there, we wanted to give it another shot. So that’s why we didn’t want to go forward with what we had. Tonally, it might’ve felt a little too campy. It didn’t feel as rooted in reality as it might’ve felt. But again, you learn things when you test things out. And so in this case, we felt, let’s take a step back and go back to the drawing board."
