The Powerpuff Girls is getting another spectacular reboot, not just in their original cartoon world. In 2021, The CW shot a pilot episode for a live-action version of The Powerpuff Girls. And the whole thing became very public when the script for the episode was leaked. Unfortunately, since then, the show has experienced difficulties. Actors have dropped out. Funding has faltered. The entire pilot episode needs to be reshot. But according to news from The CW, the show is still alive and in the works to shoot another pilot.

The problem with the pilot was that it was “a little too campy,” according to CW Chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz. But, after the script was leaked, there was a big response from the public, who made some noise on social media, saying the show was trying too hard to be edgy. Apparently, the script made too many references to sex and pop culture instead of attempting to recapture the spirit of the old show in a more mature fashion. It’s a tricky line to walk, and The CW has presented themselves with some challenging goals. But if the public doesn’t want these new Powerpuff Girls to be edgy, what would a live-action Powerpuff Girls look like?

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

The Powerpuff Girls as Young Women

     The CW

The logline for the new show on IMDb reads:

Despite this likely not being written by one of the show’s writers (because of the run-on sentence), the description at least tells us that the show will age our heroes into their 20s. It sounds like a story that has been told before, one that takes a familiar hero and weighs on them the ravages of time. Our familiar energetic girls will turn into young women that now want to explore more of the world instead of giving their entire lives up to fighting crime. And at a low, reluctant point in their lives, fate will present them with one of their greatest challenges ever.

We’ve seen it in season one of The Umbrella Academy, Deadpool 2, and The Dark Knight Rises. It’s a good story. It forces you to see your heroes in a different light. But this time, we won’t be looking at old white Bruce Wayne. We’ll get to see Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

The three girls meant to play the trio are as old as their roles demand, so one expects to see a bit of authentic existential disenchantment. Obviously, the characters are not going to be innocent children anymore – as innocent as three girls that beat the crap out of bad guys can be – so we might be getting three young women that just don’t care for superhero-ing anymore. But that might not be the only thing to expect from our female protagonists. They aren’t older men that have locked themselves away in a mansion. Each has built a life for themselves, and we want to see what they’ve done.

Where Did Life Take the Powerpuff Girls?

     Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, after aging 20 years, have likely gone their separate ways. After all, they were each very different from the other. It would be interesting to see where the writers might have taken each of them based on the uniqueness of their character. But until the show comes out, we have no qualms with speculating.

For example, we wouldn’t be surprised to find Blossom running for public office. After all, she was the leader of the group and a very type-A personality. She likely has spent her high school years overachieving and attending college on extracurricular scholarship. Then, after graduating, we wouldn’t be surprised to find her volunteering on somebody else’s campaign trail until she can run for mayor of her own hometown. But all this work must have put a strain on her. She couldn’t have done this much with her life without feeling the anxiety that was with her since childhood: the pressure to lead her family and protect an entire city. Despite being the picture of perfection on the outside, her life must be suffering the weight of her self-imposed expectations to achieve on the inside.

Bubbles is naturally the cheerleader. She would have coasted on her personality her entire life. She would have gone through high school becoming popular as easily as breathing. She was constantly happy, effortlessly charismatic, and would have probably leaned into becoming as attractive as possible. It’s just as likely that she would have gone to college as it is that she wouldn’t. Either way, the decision probably wouldn’t have mattered to her. And if she decided to, it probably would have been a decision made on a social impetus. But as she grew up, this manner of living, despite its rewards, would start to weigh on her. It would become difficult to be your own person when you always base your self-worth on the opinions of others.

Buttercup would be leading a punk band somewhere. She’s the obvious choice for a high school dropout. But she wouldn’t be stupid. Her music would probably be very political, and we wouldn’t think it’s a crazy assumption to find her at a humanitarian rally or political march somewhere. She would probably deny that she was ever a Powerpuff Girl at all and be opposed to Blossom’s campaign just out of her predisposition to rebel. But this anger would create a substantial emotional boundary between herself and other people. That tendency to isolate herself would have its consequences for sure.

Whatever the writers choose to do, it will certainly be interesting to see how our superheroes grow.