The CW has put in some new show orders for the 2021-2022 television season, including a live-action adaptation of the cartoon series The Powerpuff Girls. All in all, the network announced three pilot orders along with one straight-to-series pickup. One of the pilot orders is for the new The Powerpuff Girls, which was first announced back in August. The CW must like what they're seeing in the script as the plans to shoot a pilot episode are now official.

Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody are writing the series. Set in a live-action world, the new Powerpuff Girls follows Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup several years after their crime-fighting adventures. As the team "used to be America's pint-sized superheroes," the girls now realize that they've lost their entire childhood because of this, leaving them as disillusioned twentysomethings when the series begins. When the world needs them "now more than ever," can the three girls reunite to help save the world again?

Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody will write and executive produce The Powerpuff Girls for The CW. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden will also executive produce via Berlanti Productions. Erika Kennair will also produce as will Warner Bros. Television. A director hasn't yet been attached to the pilot, and no casting information has yet been made available, but now that the project has gotten the green light to film its pilot, all of this should be announced soon.

Meanwhile, The 4400 was granted a straight-to-series pickup at the network. The show is a reboot of the USA Network series of the same name and has been in development at The CW since 2018. Ariana Jackson will write and executive produce the series with Anna Fricke and Laura Terry also executive producing. In the original sci-fi series, an enormous ball of light deposits a group of 4400 people into a single place, with none of them aware of how they got there.

The other two pilot orders given at The CW are for the DC project Naomi from Ava Duverney and Jill Blankenship and for an untitled religious dramedy from Claire Rothrock and Ryann Weir. It's noted that all of the projects were created by women.

The Powerpuff Girls originally was created by Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network. Featuring a unique and colorful art style, the animated series centers on a trio of kindergarten-aged schoolgirls who consistently save the world using their superpowers. They live with their father and creator, a scientist named Professor Utonium, and feud with villains like Mojo Jojo, The Rowdyruff Boys, and the Giant Orange Monster.

Whether something like The Powerpuff Girls can successfully translate into a live-action series with The CW format remains to be seen. In any case, the fan reaction to the news has brought about a variety of mixed opinions, and it's clear that there are a lot of fans of the cartoon that are very leery about seeing the live-action series happen. There's no word yet on when filming will begin. This news comes to us from Variety.