Mindy Kaling is bringing the characters of Scooby-Doo to the realm of adult animation with her new HBO Max series, Velma. The show will focus on the origins of beloved crime-solver Velma Dinkley, but it will also feature the rest of the members of the iconic Mystery Team in major roles. Kaling is voicing Velma, and the rest of the Mystery Team will be portrayed by Scooby newcomers as well. The full cast, announced by HBO Max on Thursday, is absolutely stacked.
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Sam Richardson, Veep star and scene-stealing guest on I Think You Should Leave and Ted Lasso, is stepping into the role of Shaggy for the new Velma series. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and star Glenn Howerton will be voicing Fred, while Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu takes over the role of Daphne.
The four Mystery Team members will play large roles in the show, but Velma has also cast more than a dozen other actors for characters that haven’t been announced yet. The rest of the cast includes Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Ming-Na Wen, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Velma will be directed at older audiences than traditional Scooby-Doo cartoons, making it a rather unique look at these characters. It will probably share more in common with the live-action films than anything else in the franchise. Velma will also be depicted as South Asian in the series, another first for Scooby-Doo.
In the recently released Trick or Treat, Scooby-Doo, it was officially revealed that Velma is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. While this is the first time something is has been fully addressed on-screen, several Scooby writers and creators over the years have depicted Velma as gay. James Gunn, who wrote both live-action Scooby-Doo films, intended for Linda Cardellini’s Velma to be “explicitly gay,” before the studio changed things.
“In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” Gunn wrote on Twitter. “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).”
At this point, there has been no confirmation as to Kaling’s version of Velma will also be portrayed as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
What do you think of HBO Max’s Velma cast? Let us know in the comments!
