Fresh off the viral news that Velma is officially a lesbian in the latest “Scooby-Doo” movie, the Mystery Inc. member is getting more love in Mindy Kaling’s upcoming adult animated series set at HBO Max.
During a Thursday panel at New York Comic Con, Kaling revealed the star-studded cast of “Velma,” which features Sam Richardson as Shaggy, Constance Wu as Daphne and Glenn Howerton as Fred. Kaling will voice Velma.
The voice acting cast also features Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ming-Na Wen, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak and Karl-Anthony Towns.
According to the logline, the series tells “the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. This original and humorous spin unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers.”
The 10-episode first season of HBO Max’s “Velma” will debut in 2023.
Charlie Grandy serves as showrunner and executive produces alongside Kaling, Howard Klein and Sam Register.
Kaling’s show is not associated with the recently released “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” movie, which went viral this week for showing Velma googly-eyed and speechless when encountering costume designer Coco Diablo. Clips shared to Twitter amassed millions of views for confirming suspicions held by the “Scooby” fan base for decades that Velma is a lesbian.
James Gunn, who wrote the early live-action “Scooby” films, tweeted in 2020: “In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).”
