Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken on live-action reboot: 'I'm curious to see what they do with it'

Ahead of his new show, Kid Cosmic, premiering on Netflix in early February, veteran animator Craig McCracken hopped on a phone call with SYFY WIRE that included sugar, spice, everything nice, and a dash of Chemical X. That's because The Powerpuff Girls creator gave us his exclusive thoughts on the upcoming live-action reboot from Jennifer's Body writer, Diablo Cody. First announced last summer, the reimagining will revisit the titular superheroes as "disillusioned 20-somethings."

However, it should be noted right up front that McCracken is not associated with The CW project "in any way, shape, or form," he says. "I kind of found out that they were considering doing that like a year ago, and that's all I know about it. Yeah, I'm not part of that production in any way ... It's one of these things where I don't own those characters [they] are owned by…well, I don't even know who owns it now because of the Warner Bros. / AT&T merger. It's one of those companies that owns the rights, so they can do what they want with it."

With that said, McCracken — who is also known for creating shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Wander Over Yonder — is interested to see what the live-action space has to offer for the likes of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. "I'm curious to see what they do with it," he admits. "The initial concept of Powerpuff Girls was the idea that they were little kids being superheroes, so the fact that they're making them grow up, that sort of changes that initial concept. But we'll see what they do with it."

Credit: Cartoon Network

The creator goes on to say that the show is in good hands with executive producer Greg Berlanti, renowned for his great success with all of The CW's DC programming. "I like Greg Berlanti shows," McCracken concludes. "I'm a fan of his live-action superhero shows, so I know that there's definitely talent behind it. So we'll see what they do with it."

Centering around a trio of young, super-powered girls who protect the fictional city of Townsville from giant monsters, genius primates, and other threats, the original Powerpuff Girls cartoon ran on Cartoon Network for a total of six seasons between 1998 and 2005. A feature film depicting rise of Mojo Jojo (directed by McCracken) was released in 2002 and brought in $16 million at the global box office against a production budget of $11 million. Cartoon Network brought the show back in 2016, although the animated revival (developed by Nick Jennings and Bob Boyle) only ran for three seasons and wasn't too well-received by viewers that grew up watching the initial series.

Both iterations of The Powerpuff Girls, as well as the 2002 movie, are currently available to stream on Hulu.

Kid Cosmic lands on Netflix Tuesday, Feb. 2. A send-up to comic books and old school science fiction, it follows a boy (voiced by Jack Fisher) who forms a tight-knit group of superheroes after discovering a collection of cosmic stones that grant different abilities to the wearer. Stay tuned for our deep dive into the new series with McCracken!