A planned meeting between The Powerpuff Girls and Batman: The Animated Series never made it past the approval stage — and according to Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken, Warner Brothers was the reason.
McCracken has said that during the original run of The Powerpuff Girls, he wanted to build an episode around the Joker arriving in Townsville and creating chaos. The concept would have connected Cartoon Network’s superhero comedy with the world of Batman: The Animated Series, using that show’s character designs and, if the plan had worked out, bringing back Mark Hamill as the Joker.
“When we did the original series, I really wanted to do an episode where the Joker came to town and started committing crimes,” McCracken wrote on Tumblr. “The idea was that The Mayor was so excited to have a celebrity villain in town that he actually tried to thwart The Girls from stopping him because The Joker was finally putting Townsville on the map!”
That episode, however, was not produced. McCracken’s explanation was blunt: “Warner Brothers said ‘no.’”
A crossover that fit the show’s superhero DNA
The unrealized Joker episode would not have come entirely out of nowhere. The Powerpuff Girls already carried a visible connection to Batman iconography: its intro is a clear homage to the 1960s Batman show. The proposed episode would have gone further by putting one of Batman’s most recognizable adversaries directly into the Girls’ home turf.
McCracken’s version also leaned into the comic possibilities of Townsville itself. Rather than treating the Joker’s arrival only as a menace, the story would have made the Mayor thrilled that a famous villain had chosen the city, to the point that he would interfere with the Girls’ attempt to stop him.
The plan also had a very specific animation connection. The Joker would have used designs from Batman: The Animated Series, and McCracken hoped Hamill would reprise the role. The source material does not indicate that Hamill’s participation was confirmed; only that the creative team wanted him for the episode.
After Warner Brothers declined the idea, the Joker did not make the trip to Townsville. The Batman villain was instead reserved for episodes of Justice League.
Batman still hovered around Townsville
Even without the shelved Batman: The Animated Series crossover, Batman remained a recurring point of reference around The Powerpuff Girls. A Powerpuff Girls promo on a Latin American Cartoon Network station used the 1970s cartoon versions of Batman and Robin, with the gag implying that the Girls’ heroics had left the Dynamic Duo without work.
The series itself also name-checked Batman in multiple episodes. Stuck Up, Up, and Away, Slave the Day and Equal Fights all referenced Batman by name, keeping the connection present even though the full Joker crossover never happened.
The contrast between the two shows may have been part of what made the idea so striking. The Powerpuff Girls operated as a superhero comedy, while Batman: The Animated Series is described in the source material as more mature in tone. The proposed episode would have brought those sensibilities together through the Joker’s arrival in Townsville and the Mayor’s starstruck reaction to a “celebrity villain.”
The Powerpuff Girls did find other crossover paths
While the Batman crossover was stopped, The Powerpuff Girls did connect with other animated properties over the years. The source material notes links with Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
The Girls also eventually crossed into the DC orbit through Teen Titans Go!. In 2016, they appeared in the episode TTG v PPG, a crossover that brought them together with the Teen Titans. That episode did not include an appearance from Batman.
For fans of Cartoon Network animation and Batman: The Animated Series, McCracken’s account leaves behind one of those tantalizing “almost” stories: a Townsville episode with the Joker, animated in the style of the acclaimed Batman series, built around a Mayor more impressed by the villain’s fame than alarmed by his crimes. The idea was formed, the approach was specific, and the desired voice casting was clear — but Warner Brothers ultimately stopped it from moving forward.