By The Powerpuff Girls was a show that I was always embarrassed to say I liked. When the show premiered in 1998, I loved watching it, but was always afraid that my friends would make fun of me because I liked something “that was for girls.” Dumb as that thought was, I never told anyone that I liked to watch the show, but as a confident 25 year old man, damn has it aged remarkably well. After 22 years, the series still has some stylish and wonderful animation, a fun cavalcade of villains, and some awesome episodes that pushed the boundaries of what can be shown on television. Fun fact, did you know that there was a rock opera episode called “See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey” that was banned in the US because it featured a Jesus stand-in and had frequent and alleged religious imagery?
The series was rebooted in 2016 to mixed results. While I personally haven’t seen any episodes, I usually hear about which animated shows are worth watching and that has never crossed my path once. A third season concluded in 2019 and with no new episodes released and it barely getting any airtime anymore, it’s safe to say that it was taken out Old Yeller style. But now that apparently leaves a vacuum that needs to be filled, so instead, we’re getting a live-action version coming to The CW!
According to Deadline, the premise of the series is as follows: “The Powerpuff Girls used to be America’s pint-sized superheroes. Now they’re disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?”
So they’re portraying them as child soldiers. That’s… certainly an approach to take. I like the idea that they’re aging up the girls into their mid-20s, since having a show dedicated to child actors would have probably gone poorly and making the show an animated/live-action hybrid would have been too costly. I’m actually intrigued by the premise, though it can easily go south super quickly. The show will be helmed by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Heather Regnier (Sleepy Hollow, Veronica Mars) and both women are talented writers so I’m fairly optimistic that it will turn out well enough.
Source: Deadline
