Like with “Batgirl”: the superhero series is already being deleted for the 3rd (!) time

While it’s still extremely uncommon for a movie like “Batgirl” to end up in the trash completely twisted, it happens more often with series pilots. After all, their function is to show the decision makers whether they have a promising project available or not. Each year, a large portion of the pilot episodes never become a series and are never published.

With “Powerpuff Girls” it is particularly bitter for those involved that they have repeatedly fallen victim to restructuring and the now final ending for the series probably has less to do with the quality of the series pilot than with changes in the original clients.

The plan was: A new series of “Powerpuff Girls” – not for children

“Powerpuff Girls” was initially an incredibly successful children’s animation series about three little superheroes born from an experiment who protect their homeland already in kindergarten. A new live-action series would now see the characters as disgruntled ex-heroines in their mid-twentieswho suddenly have to gather themselves together again when they are needed again. On board were Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron and Yana Perrault in the three leads, as well as ‘Scrubs’ star Donald Faison as her ‘father’ Professor Utonium.

The series was actually developed for broadcaster The CW – which seemed like the perfect place. There it enjoyed success with superhero stories (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl) and titles aimed primarily at a younger female audience (Gossip Girl, Jane The Virgin). “Powerpuff Girls” seemed to tie it all together, could have attracted young people who might have grown up with the original series.

When the crazy pilot failed and was dropped in 2021, the idea of ​​a series based on the brand remained – Everything else went so well. The lead actress Chloe Bennet, known for the Marvel series “Agents Of SHIELD”, left the project, but a fresh start was made with the rest of the cast and the idea of ​​featuring the former child heroines as young women.

A project at the wrong time and in the wrong place

But there have been big changes at the CW station lately, including personnel changes and a complete program refocus. Numerous series were ended because of this and many projects were not continued. Also “Powerpuff Girls” did not fit into a revised programwhich in the future will no longer be dominated by written series, but by sports, purchased shows and reality formats.

A few months ago it was announced that the broadcaster so no more interest and the project a second time and now finally stamped from this side.

But fans of “Powerpuff Girls” remained optimistic. With the cancellation, production company Warner Bros. every opportunity to further develop the project yourself and then get it on another broadcaster or streaming service. And initially it was said that Warner would do just that. But now comes through insider Matt Webb Mitovich the message, that the series is also no longer in development at Warner. she’s sick Times and now finally pulverized.

The exact reasons are not known, but the series may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time again. Because at Warner, too, there are now other people at the helm than those who once got the series off the ground. And the new leadership around boss David Zaslav believes that live-action superheroes and superheroines are mainly a high-profile thing for the big screen – less so for the small TV screen and the streaming age. It’s one of the reasons the Batgirl went to the trash, and it might be why there won’t be a Powerpuff Girls live-action series now.

But the brand isn’t history yet: Craig McCracken, the creator behind the original 1998 series, is working on a cartoon remake. Let’s see if he’ll have better luck.