Donald Faison to play Professor Utonium in live-action ‘Powerpuff Girls’ pilot
'I tried so hard not to FLEX but I can’t help it. I’m so excited!' posted Faison
Donald Faison is headed back to your small screen but this time with a little help from the Powerpuff Girls.
The actor recently announced he would be starring as Professor Drake Utonium in CW’s live-action version of Powerpuff Girls. Faison, 46, posted the news to his Instagram on Tuesday.
“I tried so hard not to FLEX but I can’t help it. I’m so excited! #powerpuffgirls,” read the caption. The post featured a side-by-side image of Professor Utonium and the actor.
Professor Utonium is described as a “scientific genius who is immensely proud of the three extraordinary girls he created in his lab,” per PEOPLE Magazine. The key character is introduced in the pilot as “staring down a midlife crisis” but “is determined to repair his relationships with his now-adult daughters.”
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The original cartoon hit series made its debut on Cartoon Network in 1998 and lasted until 2005. It followed the lives of three superhero sisters–Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup– who the professor created in a lab.
Actors Dove Cameron (Descendants), Yana Perrault (Jagged Little Pill musical), and Chloe Bennet (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) are signed on to play the superheroes.
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As reported by theGrio, actress Kaci Walfall has been tapped for the titular role in Ava DuVernay’s forthcoming superhero DC drama Naomi for the CW network.
The CW pilot, from DuVernay’s Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. Television, follows the story of a young Black girl named Naomi McDuffie from a small northwestern town to the multiverse. Naomi searches to find the origin of a supernatural event while discovering her superhero abilities, Deadline reports.
DuVernay took to Twitter late last year to announce the project and praised DC Comics for “believing in the vision.” She also noted that the new series is the third DC project coming out of her production company, theGrio reported.
She is also co-writing a big-screen adaptation of “New Gods” with Tom King.
The first Naomi comic, created by Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by artist Jamal Campbell, came out in March 2019 and was called Naomi #1, according to Fandom.
In the comics, Naomi has energy-based powers that grants her incredible strength and supernatural abilities.
Bendis reacted on social media to the initial news of DuVernay developing the series, tweeting in December 2020, “I cannot find the right gif to properly express my over the top joy. I guess I’ll just have to use words and stuff! YAY!!!”
Walfall will co-star alongside three series regulars, Alexander Wraith, Cranston Johnson, and newcomer Camila Moreno. Deadline shared character descriptions of their characters:
Walfall’s Naomi has been described to be an effortlessly cool and confident high school student that pursues her hidden destiny after a supernatural event leads to the discovery of her powers within.
Wraith will portray Dee, who has been described as an owner of a local tattoo parlor. The description unveiled that Dee appears to know more than he is willing to tell after a strange event leaves the town in chaos.
Johnson will play a mysterious owner of a local used car lot named Zumbado. The character is described as someone who has a troubling past, ultimately leading to a tense encounter with Naomi.
Additional reporting by Ny Magee
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