The CW's live-action Powerpuff Girls series just lost its Blossom

Uh-oh, things aren’t faring well for the live-action Powerpuff Girls show. Chloe Bennet, who was cast as Blossom on The CW’s upcoming series, decided to not stick around for the reshoot of the pilot. An insider told The Hollywood Reporter that “while making new deals for Powerpuff to extend the actors’ availability for the new pilot cycle, Bennet did not sign her offer due to scheduling.” Casting for Bennet’s replacement is reportedly beginning in the fall.

The CW really wanted us to think that the Powerpuff Girls show wouldn’t be a disaster—but each time we hear about the series, everything seems to be falling apart.

First came the plotline, featuring the Cartoon Network heroines as Riverdale-type characters who are “disillusioned twenty-somethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting.” Soon after, set pictures featuring the cast wearing what looked like costumes you could get at your local Party City started circling around. And to make matters somehow worse, a script leaked with cringey dialogue that killed off any lingering hope that perhaps it wouldn’t end up being a total dumpster fire.

Much like when people called out the Sonic live-action movie for its terrible initial CGI design (causing it to be changed to one that looks more like the classic video game), CW’s Powerpuff Girls was derided on social media nonstop, and the network ultimately decided to rework the pilot and attempt to make something more palatable to fans of the original animated series.

But the cast still tried to shut down rumors that public outrage caused the pilot to be reworked. In an interview with ET, Dove Cameron, who’s set to star as Bubbles, said, “They didn’t decide to rework the pilot because the script leaked. I just need to say that that wasn’t what happened. We had to reshoot it anyway for a couple of reasons.” We’ll have to see if the show experiences yet another setback.