Getting off to a rocky start at The CW, The Powerpuff Girls have now lost one of their crime fighting sisters in Chloe Bennet’s (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Abominable) Blossom. According to Variety, scheduling conflicts arose between Bennet and the network when the series needed to be reworked, thus pushing back its production timeline.
Variety describes the upcoming series, reimagined for live-action by Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult) and Heather V. Regnier (Sleepy Hollow, iZombie), as telling the tale of “the pint-sized superheroes as disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting.” Bennet starred as Blossom in the unaired pilot alongside Dove Cameron’s (Liv and Maddie: Cali Style, Descendants) Bubbles and Yana Perrault’s (Jagged Little Pill) Buttercup, who will both remain in the series as it reshoots at The CW.
The CW’s CEO, Mark Pedowitz, called Powerpuff’s spring pilot presentation “a miss,” which many fans on social media would call an understatement, via Variety. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The CW’s leaked pilot script included details such as “Blossom threatening to leak Buttercup’s nude photos and interrupting her sister’s marathon sex session.”
Chock-full or sexual innuendo and ill-fitting slang, the leaked pilot became a source of heavy ridicule among fans online. Many felt the script was trying to overcompensate in its attempt to convert a family friendly property into a more adult series.
Many reboots, such as Paramount+’s iCarly, have succeeded in their aim at recontextualizing childhood properties for older audiences who grew up with the material. The overall consensus from Powerpuff’s leaked script and pilot presentation was that the series was missing that chemical X factor needed to connect with modern fans of the original IP.
The necessity to reshoot led to conflicts with Bennet’s schedule, causing her to part from the series officially on Wednesday. Cameron and Perrault are still onboard as well as Donald Fiason (Scrubs, Clueless) as Professor Utonium and Nicholas Podany (Hart of Dixie) as villain Mojo Jojo Jr. According to Variety, recasting for Blossom will take place this fall, the period in which the series was originally meant to air on The CW.
There has yet to be an updated timeline on Powerpuff’s release since the reworking of the pilot began in May.