The Velma series “Scooby-Doo” causes controversy for having Shaggy and Velma black and gay

Warner Bros. Animation, revealed the Velma animated series revealing the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the iconic mastermind of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc.

Unlike the accessible family franchise of Scooby-Doo, Velma is an adult-oriented show, executive produced by Mindy Kaling, who also voices Velma; executive producer Charlie Grandy; Constance Wu (Daphne); Sam Richardson (Norville, who will be known as “Shaggy”); and Glenn Howerton (Fred) joined fans at New York Comic Con 2022 to explain the new direction for the long-running horror-comedy series.

The show features Velma in her high school years as a bespectacled loser. If two copulating cockroaches in the opening scene don’t set Velma’s tone, the next scene should work: Naked teens engaging in physical violence in gym showers (all while debating the ethical appropriateness and exploitation of blatant nudity in the media). . No one involved with HBO Max or the Scooby franchise objected to the racier, bloodier direction the team wanted to take with the iconic mystery gang, according to Grandy. He claimed support from Warner Bros.: “They said, ‘Great, go have some fun.'”

From the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Debuting in 1969 on CBS, Velma and the gang have survived various iterations, from cartoons to live-action movies to video games. Just this week, Velma made headlines when the latest direct-to-video animated movie (finally) confirmed her as capable of wooing gays.

Velma’s recent portrayal of gay identity (after decades of ambiguity and James Gunn’s failed attempt to confirm her sexuality) seemed to have been on the moderator’s mind when he asked, “Is there a Velma and Daphne moment?” hinting at a romantic sendoff and encouraging the crowd to applaud. Kaling replied: “[Velma] it has unresolved sexual tension with a lot of characters.” Her Velma does come toe-to-toe with Daphne at one point in the pilot, and she finds the arrogant Fred irritatingly attractive. “We were drawn to this journey of self-discovery for her,” Kaling said. “We wanted to honor the other interpretations and do what is modern.”

Velma’s only friend in high school is Shaggy, whose proper name is Norville, who is shown to be calmer. Shaggy “definitely doesn’t like drugs,” he says in the pilot. His “joking” – really just him honestly admitting his crush on Velma – plays a role in saving the mystery-solving heroine later in the pilot. So how does Shaggy become a “burnout” later in canon? Grandy promised: “You will see the evolution of the character.”

Velma’s creators reimagined the character as one of South Asian descent, like Kaling, because “most [mujeres] American Indians, when they see a skeptical, hardworking and underestimated character, they can identify

Daphne and Shaggy have also been reimagined as East Asian and Black, respectively, as their voice actors, because “nobody in [Scooby-Doo] is defined by his whiteness,” Kaling said, “except Fred is extremely white.” You can see the trailer below: