The CW’s Powerpuff Girl series Powerpuff, featuring the beloved ‘90s cartoon characters as disillusioned twenty-somethings, began filming its pilot in Atlanta in April 2021, only to be hit by some surprising news in May: The show will not be going to series—yet. Per Deadline, the highly anticipated production will reshoot its pilot, apparently due to difficulties adapting the live-action series from a cartoon.

For those curious about what exactly those difficulties might be, Warner Bros. TV Group President Channing Dungey didn’t give many details when discussing the hold-up: “We’ve got a trio of terrific actresses at the center of [the show]. I’m not going to say that it hasn’t been a challenge. Bringing a children’s cartoon into live-action adulthood has been a really fine like to walk, but I think we’ve done a pretty great job walking it.”

Much of the struggle likely has to do with re-inventing the peppy, innocent, kindergarten-aged Powerpuffs into Powerpuff, which features an older, more contemporary group of sisters who sport moto jackets and unaddressed trauma. The cognitive dissonance at the heart of the series was present from the first photos released from set. The show was roundly teased for its awkward versions of the girls’ iconic blue, green, and pink dresses, tube socks and Mary Janes.

A few days later, the CW released its first official look at the show, featuring the leads in modernized outfits (but in their signature colors, of course).

James Acomb/The CW

It seems the show’s costumes will switch between the superhero look and a real-world update, but the disconnect is not encouraging for a show that’s apparently struggling to find solid ground. Still, with Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault attached, Powerpuff could be The CW’s next major hit. As the series goes in for an apparently much-needed polish, here’s what else we know so far.

Have any cast members spoken out about reshooting the pilot?

In a recent interview with E! News, Cameron attempted to settle the waters surrounding the first episode. She explained that nothing went catastrophically wrong during the Powerpuff shoot, but the cast and creators felt the premiere could be (and needed to be) stronger.

“I think because there’s so much attention on [Powerpuff Girls], because of…how beloved the franchise is, people are kind of like looking for something crazy to happen when, like, nothing crazy happened,” she said. “It’s just tonally, it’s something that you really have to get right.”

She later clarified, “We shot an entire pilot. It’s pretty great. We like it. We think we can do better and we have the time and we’re going to go back and get it pitch perfect so that, by the time we actually go to series, we’re shooting something and working off of something that we can hopefully work off of for years.”

What is the grown-up Powerpuff Girls show supposed to be about?

As Variety puts it, the girls, now in their 20s, “resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?”

In March 2021, Variety released new details about how the series is depicting Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup as adults. Here’s how the outlet describes them:

Blossom: “Though she was a spunky, conscientious, Little-Miss-Perfect child who holds several advanced degrees, [Blossom]’s repressed kiddie-superhero trauma has left her feeling anxious and reclusive, and she aims to become a leader again, this time on her own terms.”

Bubbles: “Bubbles’ sweet-girl disposition won America’s hearts as a child. She still sparkles as an adult, but her charming exterior belies an unexpected toughness and wit. She’s initially more interested in recapturing her fame than saving the world, but she just might surprise us and herself.”

Buttercup: “Buttercup was the rebellious badass of The Powerpuff Girls in its heyday. More sensitive than her tough exterior suggests, Buttercup has spent her adulthood trying to shed her Powerpuff Girl identity and live an anonymous life.”