Credit: The CWThe CW just seems to be dealing with a string of bad luck and canceled shows in the past couple of years.
While Riverdale somehow sees its seventh (and thankfully, final) season and Superman & Lois has been renewed for a fourth, new shows like The Winchesters and Gotham Knights have both been canceled after just one season.
The CW saw major success in the mid-2000s with shows like Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, and The Flash, which just ended its final season. However, some of its more recent shows seem to have trouble hitting with audiences or the producers, seeing a cancelation after just one or two seasons. However, the latest cancelation from the studio has actually been praised by fans, before the show ever even saw the screen.
The live-action Powerpuff Girls adaptation, simply called Powerpuff, has been decried by fans for years since it was first announced a few years ago, and it’s seen nothing but a string of bad luck since. The show was expected to be a more mature portrayal of the iconic girls, with Chloe Bennett (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Blossom, Dove Cameron (Descendants) as Bubbles, and newcomer Yana Perrault as Buttercup.
The script for the original pilot was allegedly leaked online at one point, outraging fans who called the script too dark for the normally lighthearted characters, supposedly giving them issues of PTSD, alcoholism, and sex addiction. For a franchise that fans were already demanding to be left alone, it was yet another nail in the coffin.
Due to the heated backlash, the pilot episode was canceled, apparently having been filmed and nearly completed. Since then, there has been no press, no news, and no further updates about the show, leading many to believe that it had been canceled.
This was seemingly confirmed by a recent interview with TVLine, claiming that the show “has powered completely down. Sources confirm for TVLine that the live-action Powerpuff Girls series is no longer in development at Warner Bros. TV.” This is great news for fans of the animated series who didn’t want a reboot anyway, especially a gritty, live-action adaptation.
It’s clear that fans don’t want studios to continue rebooting their “greatest hits” of animated shows, instead hoping that a studio will focus on an original concept. However, as Disney continue to sees mild success with their live-action adaptations, it seems like it will be a trend that sticks around for a little longer.
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