More bad news for the CW’s live-action Powerpuff Girls series. Star Chloe Bennet has stepped back from the project.

Bennet was set to star as one of the three leads, Blossom. 

The CW began developing the series with plans to potentially debut it this fall. But everything didn’t go according to plan. The series made headlines earlier this year when the CW announced it would reshoot the pilot episode. Chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz called the Powerpuff pilot “a miss” and said it simply “didn’t work.”

Around the same time, parts of a leaked pilot script for the series circulated on Twitter. The response from fans and the internet alike was overwhelmingly negative.

Now, it looks like heading back to the drawing board has cost the series a lead actor. According to Variety, Bennet’s exit isn’t a result of her losing faith in the project. Apparently, scheduling conflicts forced her to leave Powerpuff. 

Casting to replace Bennet will begin this fall.

Other core cast members remain attached to the series at this time. That includes the two other leads, sisters Bubbles (Dove Cameron) and Buttercup (Yana Perrault). Additional actors still attached from the pilot include Donald Faison as Professor Drake Utonium, Nicholas Podany as villain Joseph “Jojo” Mondel Jr., and Robyn Lively as Sara Bellum.

The CW first announced it would create a live-action Powerpuff Girls series back in August 2020. It’s (loosely) based on the Cartoon Network animated series created by Craig McCracken. The CW’s Powerpuff series follows the pint-sized superheroes as disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting.

We’ll keep you posted on the status of this series, so check back to THS for more updates.

Source: Variety