Freddie Prinze Jr. Reacts to ‘Scooby Doo’ Recasting His Role

Not long after Matthew Lillard expressed frustration at not being told that Warner Bros. was going to reboot route with its next theatrical Scooby-Doo movie, his co-star Freddie Prinze, Jr. tried to talk down a fan who said that without the pair, there was “no Scooby.”

Prinze played Fred Jones in two films (which were released in 2002 and 2004), while Lillard played Shaggy. Prinze’s real-life wife Sarah Michelle Gellar played his onscreen crush Daphne Blake.

“It’s just show business,” Prinze said in part. “They simply want to bring the franchise to the next generation with actors they think will get the most eyeballs.”

You can see the exchange below.

Their relationships are a bit different with the characters, of course; Prinze has only played Fred twice, and parodied the part on Robot Chicken. Lillard has voiced Shaggy since 2009. He inherited the role from the retired Casey Kasem, who originated Shaggy and voiced the character for more than 35 years.

In addition to voicing Shaggy in animated series Mystery Incorporated and Be Cool Scooby-Doo!, Lillard has served as the character in nearly two dozen direct-to-video films in the past decade. It is not yet clear whether Lillard will continue in the role for future projects of that nature, although there is precedent: the Man In the Yellow Hat is most commonly played by Jeff Bennett in the Curious George TV series and movie franchise, but was voiced by Will Ferrell in the first feature film, in the hopes of generating more mainstream interest.

Joining Last Man on Earth star Will Forte in the theatrical animated feature in the works from Warner Bros.’ Warner Animation Group are Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) as Velma, and Tracy Morgan (30 Rock) as Captain Caveman.

Frank Welker, the actor who originated Fred, has never retired from voice work and will continue to play the character in the next animated movie. Following the death of Don Messick in 1997, Welker also took on the role of Scooby-Doo.

There is no word yet on who will voice Daphne.

The film reportedly centers around the Mystery Inc. gang joining forces with other Hanna-Barbera characters to thwart the world-threatening plans of Dick Dastardly.

Warner Bros. is readying the untitled Scooby-Doo film for a May 2020 release.

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