The CW Hands Pilots To Live Action ‘The Powerpuff Girls’, DC Comics ‘Naomi’ And… A Nun Dramedy?
The CW has handed out three pilot orders today. The first to a live-action version of ‘The Powerpuff Girls’, the second to an adaptation of the DC Comics character ‘Naomi’, and the third to an untitled dramedy… about millennial nuns…
For the uninitiated, ‘The Powerpuff Girls‘ was an animated series, created by Craig McCracken, and followed the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. These three kindergarten-aged girls, with an array of superpowers, saved the world (or at least their city of Townsville) from monsters, would-be conquerers and a few other gross things.
The CW version… a little different… ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ are no longer America’s pre-teen, pint-sized superheroes. Now they’re disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?
The script for the pilot comes from Diablo Cody, best known for the brilliant movie ‘Juno’, and dramedy series ‘United States of Tara’, alongside Heather Regnier, who has written on shows such as ‘Veronica Mars’, ‘Sleepy Hollow’, ‘Falling Skies’ and ‘iZombie’. Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. TV would produce the series. Cody and Regnier exec produce along with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden from Berlanti Prods.
‘Naomi’ is based on the DC Comic co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker, illustrated by Jamal Campbell which debuted in 2019. The story follows a teen girl’s journey from her small northwestern town to the heights of the multiverse. When a supernatural event shakes her hometown to the core, Naomi sets out to uncover its origins, and what she discovers will challenge everything we believe about our heroes.
The pilot comes from writer/director Ava DuVernay (‘When They See Us’, ‘Selma’) and writer Jill Blankenship (‘Arrow’, ‘The Last Ship’), who will exec produce alongside Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes. The project will be produced by DuVernay’s Array Filmworks in association with Warner Bros Television.
What makes this interesting is that it isn’t a Berlanti/Arrowverse property although it is a DC Comics property airing on The CW. However, we do know that all of DC’s film and tv sits within the same multiverse (and this show does seem to have a direct connection there) so we’ll have to see whether they “borrow” the character at some point for a crossover.
The last pilot is an untitled dramedy which follows two millennial nuns… One is a devout “true believer”, whilst the other is a new arrival who has yet to take her final vows. The duo start out as strangers but become sisters on a funny, spiritual journey to understand their own faith and place in the Catholic church.
The pilot comes from two upcoming actor/writers, Claire Rothrock and Ryann Weir, who previously wrote the web series ‘Basic Witch’. Jennie Snyder Urman (‘Jane The Virgin’, ‘Charmed’) and Joanna Klein (‘Broke’) produce the pilot via their Sutton St. Productions alongside CBS Studios.
