‘Velma’: Everything We Know So Far About Mindy Kaling’s Mature ‘Scooby-Doo’ Spinoff

The beloved brains behind the Mystery gang is getting a new look and storyline than what fans remember as children. Mindy Kaling’s Velma animated series spinoff takes the beloved glasses-wearing and smart character to new heights. But it has some fans getting rubbed the wrong way. HBO Max’s Velma will be a mature version of the classic character and her murder mysteries from the Scooby-Doo franchise.

‘Scooby-Doo’s’ Velma character was the underappreciated think-tank of the franchise

For as long as fans can remember, they have seen one reiteration of Scooby-Doo one after the other. The franchise originally aired in 1969 with a group of teens who somehow always get involved in bizarre mysteries. By their side is a loyal and talking dog named Scooby-doo. The animated series became a smashing success that led to multiple reboots like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! to the current Scooby-Doo, and Guess Who?

This time Mindy Kaling’s spinoff of Scooby-Doo will focus on the beloved Velma. The character became an intellectual icon with her impressive knowledge and ability to solve crimes and think outside the box. But as fans know, she was often underappreciated compared to her “cooler” friends, Fred and Daphne.

More often than not, her ability to solve crimes was overlooked and underappreciated. As fans grew older, they soon realized that Fred or Daphne would take credit. Even in the live-action movies, the character becomes fed up with Fred taking the glory as his own and quits the group. But the character will finally get her time to shine in the Scooby-Doo spinoff Velma.

‘Velma’ gives the character a slightly new story with mature themes and a new ethnicity

According to Deadline, on May 18, Kaling released the first look at Velma and how the spinoff will take the character into a new adventure. The official first look has the Scooby-Doo character discovering a severed dead body in a locker room. But unlike the kid-friendly series before it, Velma takes on a more mature outlook as fans can see an almost entirely naked female character in the background. Not to mention the victim’s empty brain cavity and some blood.

Beyond the maturity of Velma, the spinoff also makes another big change from the original Scooby-Doo character. As fans can notice, Velma is South Asian. Kaling addressed the crowd by saying, “Hopefully you noticed my Velma is South Asian. If people freak out about that, I don’t care.”

Kaling admits news of Velma’s change in ethnicity has caused backlash. During her July 2021 appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, she addressed fan reactions. “There was a lot of, like, ‘So not Velma!’ Those kind of tweets. ‘Not the classic Velma that I’m always thinking about.'”

The first-look photos show Velma still sporting her iconic hairstyle, rectangle glasses, and a peak of her orange knit turtleneck. Seeing as Velma will be an adult animated series, there is also the question if the spinoff will address the character’s sexuality. According to Digital Spy, in 2021, Mystery Incorporated’s producer, Tony Cervone, revealed Velma is indeed gay. Kaling has not revealed if this will be a part of Velma’s story in the spinoff.

Will the rest of the Scooby-Doo gang appear in ‘Velma’?

According to CBR, HBO Max announced the news of Velma and its overall storyline in February. Velma will be an origin story of Velma Dinkley, “the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang.” The spinoff will venture into her background and growing capabilities for solving crime.

In a statement by WarnerMedia’s Tom Ascheim, he explains that Velma will include a group of main characters but has not revealed if they will be franchise characters. “There’s no dog and there’s no van, but we have our four key characters through a different lens,” said Ascheim.

For now, fans know Kaling will voice the role of Velma, but the rest of the cast has not been revealed. Velma also has no scheduled release date. Fans will have to keep their eyes open for more news in the future.