It’s extremely seemingly that the trailer for the scrapped live-action adaptation of Powerpuff Women, referred to as Powerpuff, has reached your desk. Whereas technically not an official trailer ever supposed to be launched to the general public, the prevailing footage from the deliberate sequence was stitched collectively right into a trailer that showcased what may need been…and it was one thing. The thought of a live-action Powerpuff Women sequence following the trio as they’ve grown up and reunited of their early 30s seems like a joke premise, and the footage proven off options inexperienced display screen compositing that appears straight out of a Humorous or Die sketch.
Initially introduced in 2020, Powerpuff’s unusual premise and the information that Academy Award winner Diablo Cody would write it actually raised a number of eyebrows however led to some curiosity about what may need been probably the most high-profile pilot that season. Regardless of a powerful solid that included Chloe Bennett (Brokers of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Blossom, Dove Cameron (The Descendents), and singer Yana Perrault as Buttercup, The CW handed on the pilot in Could 2021 and determined to transform it. Bennett later dropped out of the sequence, and by Could 2022, the sequence was nonetheless in improvement earlier than being formally canceled in Could 2023 by CW’s new house owners, Nextstar.
After having watched the footage, many are seemingly pleased to see Powerpuff by no means made it to air. Regardless of all the failings of the footage (and there are PLENTY), it is not the main trainwreck one would count on. It’s clear that Diablo Cody had a inventive imaginative and prescient for Powerpuff, one that might have explored some thrilling themes in concept that was additionally doomed from the beginning.
Powerpuff Women
- Launch Date
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November 18, 1998
- Community
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Cartoon Community
- Showrunner
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Craig McCracken
Diablo Cody’s ‘Powerpuff’ a Superhero and Baby Star Deconstruction
When Powerpuff was first introduced, and the concept of a darkish, gritty tackle older variations of a well-liked healthful children’ cartoon airing on the CW, many identified that this may be the Riverdale model of Powerpuff Women. Riverdale was a darkish reimaging of the beloved Archie comics that additionally amped up the teenager drama angle and the intercourse, violence, and finally occult components. Riverdale took the method of different profitable teen dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fairly Little Liars, and Gossip Lady and introduced it into the world of Archie. This teen drama comedian, whereas healthful, was seemingly a serious affect on those self same tv sequence, making it a robust match and resulting in one of many CW’s most profitable and bonkers reveals ever. But, doing the Riverdale model of Powerpuff Women felt odd since these had been little one superheroes, and the sort of story felt flawed.
Wanting previous the unhealthy VFX work within the Powerpuff trailer, it’s clear that Diablo Cody’s pitch is “Watchmen however for Powerpuff Women.” The trailer instantly establishes this will probably be a deconstruction of the superhero materials, even making the meta-joke that the Powerpuff Women cartoon followers beloved the literal and figurative whitewashed model of their tales the identical approach Logan did by making the X-Males comedian books and, by extension, the opposite films, fictional tales. Cody’s model of the Powerpuff Women is meant to flip these characters on their head from what audiences count on them to be. Blossom, “commander and the chief,” is probably the most aimless in life. Bubbles, the previous “pleasure and the laughter” and now seemingly probably the most cynical, is promoting her merch to remain related. Buttercup, “the hardest fighter,” is now seemingly a primary responder and a protector.
Taking kids’s characters and attempting to do the darkish, “gritty” model of them is usually a blended bag. In some instances, it seems like a juvenile try and make one thing aimed toward children and make it grownup in a performative approach, as seen within the Poohniverse horror movies and even the Michael Bay Transformers movies placing a lot emphasis on the USA army. But the sort of deconstruction of beloved items of youngsters’s characters will also be illuminating, as seen with the works of Alan Moore. Via each Watchmen and Miracle Man, Moore took the inherently childlike whimsy of superheroes and introduced them in a extra topical approach that always led to darkish, traumatic realizations. Powerpuff Women being a superhero story means it seemingly would lend itself to the sort of deconstruction, and Powerpuff did seemingly have one thing to say.
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Cody is utilizing the Powerpuff Women as a springboard to debate the character of childhood stars. What’s it wish to develop up within the public highlight, and what occurs when a toddler, notably a younger lady, will not be the candy, harmless individual the general public made them out to be? When a lady turns into a lady, and is not the last word image of purity to the general public, however as a substitute has flaws and wishes that make them human. That is an attention-grabbing thought as a beginning place for a revitalization of Powerpuff Women that gives one thing new moderately than being a carbon copy shot-for-shot remake of the unique animated cartoon (taking a look at you, Netflix’s Avatar: The Final Airbender).
Many themes Cody seemingly needed Powerpuff to sort out align along with her earlier work. A serious throughline for Juno is how individuals in Juno’s life view her in another way after they know she is sexually energetic, and the being pregnant solely highlights. Her father even says, “I believed you had been the sort of lady who knew when to say when,” to which Juno responds, “I do not know what sort of lady I’m.” In Younger Grownup, Charlize Theron performs a lady who has a tough time letting go of the previous, whereas Tully examines post-partum melancholy and dives into a lady’s youthful self and who they grow to be, contrasting and complimenting each other. Jennifer’s Physique and Lisa Frankenstein each use the horror style to faucet into the ruthless nature of highschool and the way teenage women are handled and seen by their friends and society.
With all that in thoughts, it actually is smart why Diablo Cody was drawn to this model of the Powerpuff Women and had one thing to say. The query is, does that make it good?
Execution Was All the time Going to Be Key, and ‘Powerpuff’ Wasn’t Going to Ship
Regardless of Powerpuff having a theoretically attention-grabbing thought and themes to discover on paper, all of it comes right down to execution. One have a look at the leaked footage confirmed a extreme disconnect between intent and completed product. The aesthetic of the sequence alone feels hampered by its price range. It tries to recreate the long-lasting animated areas in live-action. As a substitute of wanting spectacular, they give the impression of being low-cost and synthetic, which clashes with a lot of the sequence going for a extra naturalistic vibe, together with Bubbles promoting merchandise on Hollywood Blvd.
It has its foot in each worlds however cannot determine what it ought to be. Had it both gone the One Piece route of imagining a cartoon world in live-action or the Riverdale route of reimagining how the very Fifties aesthetic of Archie comics interprets to the 2017 setting and grounding it, Powerpuff may need labored. However the break up between campy and grounded highlights its apparent budgetary restrictions.
As seen by the footage of Powerpuff, one of many greatest issues holding the sequence again was its standing as a CW sequence and the way a lot cash was at its disposal. The CW sequence at all times had a restricted price range, so there have been at all times clear limitations, even after they had been doing massive DC storylines of their Arrowverse sequence. Anybody who was a fan of the Arrowverse is aware of that generally you must look previous some shoddy VFX work.
More often than not, individuals may do that as a result of they remembered how unhealthy TV CGI used to look and realized how far we have come, and the tales and the characters themselves had been partaking. So the ultimate battle with the Anti-Monitor in Disaster on Infinite Earths may need seemed a little bit pretend, nevertheless it was arduous to care when the CW delivered 5 nights of fan-favorite characters assembly, dying, and beloved characters like Brandon Routh’s Superman or Tom Welling’s Smallville Clark Kent showing in a satisfying epic story.
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Whereas the CW Arrowverse sequence was honest, Powerpuff, by its very nature, was a really cynical present, so it makes the barrier to accepting the cheap-looking results tougher. It was a sequence whose ambitions had been seemingly extra important than the community it might have aired on, and provided that Powerpuff was first pitched two years earlier than Nextstar bought the CW and would later cancel most of their tv lineup, Powerpuff would not have lasted lengthy even when it received picked up. Possibly if Powerpuff had an HBO price range, it may have considerably pulled itself off. That cynical nature of Powerpuff may also have been a serious downside for the sequence when it comes to long-term longevity. The trailer for Powerpuff appears to hammer dwelling the sequence’ one central joke: “Is not it humorous to see the Powerpuff Women grown up?”
This concept seemingly may have supported a characteristic movie or a restricted sequence, however a 13 to 22-episode sequence on the CW that theoretically was aiming to final a number of seasons? That joke seemingly would have gotten outdated quick. Riverdale is one of the best instance, as after a superb Season 1 that had a strong homicide thriller with hints of a supernatural twist, the extra the sequence went on, it strayed removed from its unique imaginative and prescient the place the ultimate seasons had witchcraft and a meteor heading for Riverdale and alternate realities (The Riverdale writers room was a spot the place they took the motto ‘no thought is a foul thought’ very critically).
Had Powerpuff made it to air and never been canceled, the sequence creators seemingly would have wanted a brand new central hook. It virtually seems like they might have finally teased a shared universe of Cartoon Community characters however grown up. Powerpuff seemingly would have needed to resort to the ladies assembly an older model of Dexter from Dexter Laboratory or Ed, Edd, and Eddy making their live-action debut as a possible love curiosity and even the Codename Youngsters Subsequent Door popping out of retirement to grow to be the Codename Older Millenials Subsequent Door. At that time, it turns into a parody of shared universe tales, however it’s completed with a straight face.
Powerpuff appears fascinating. Fascinating is not the identical nearly as good, and it’s seemingly that had the present made it to air, it might have been extensively mocked and later canceled by The CW’s new company house owners. But, in a time when each IP franchise is up for revivals and reboots, Powerpuff not less than seemed like the results of a robust voice like Diablo Cody, who had one thing to say versus a studio thought of attempting to get blood from a stone, like, say, Madame Internet or Kraven the Hunter. Nonetheless, like Joker: Folie à Deux confirmed, being the product of a singular voice additionally does not inherently make one thing good.