The first image from HBO Max's Mindy Kaling-led Scooby-Doo spinoff centered on Velma Dinkley promises it won't be a family-friendly affair.
Debuting during Warner Bros. Discovery's upfronts event, the image sees Velma discovering the mutilated body of a young girl in a locker room and naked bystanders look on in horror. "And while we're on the topic of fresh, female-forward shows, I am beyond excited to share with you these images from my new animated adult comedy Velma, which is based on the beloved character from Scooby-Doo," Kaling said while introducing the images, only one of which has been made public at this time.
HBO Max announced Velma in February and described it as an adult-focused comedy. "It is a tremendous privilege to build on the 100-year plus legacy of 'cartoons' at this company," HBO Max Executive Vice President of Comedy and Adult Animation Suzanna Makkos said. "We can draw a straight line from our hundreds of childhood hours spent watching Bugs outwit Elmer to the current slate of adult animated projects we are building here at HBO Max and we think fans will agree. We are proud to introduce this distinctive group of series from a wide range of diverse creators that will form a first stop destination for animation lovers everywhere."
Kaling, who's been attached to the project since the start, received backlash from Scooby-Doo fans for being cast as a South Asian version of Velma. Of course, the character has been portrayed as Asian in the past, most notably by Haley Kiyoko in Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster. However, this will mark the first time she's been depicted as South Asian.
In June 2021, WarnerMedia's Tom Ascheim explained that part of what drew Kaling to Velma was her excitement to "reimagine what Scooby-Doo would be like if Velma were of East Asian descent [Kaling has since clarified that she's South Asian] and lived in a different world. And so in that version, which is going on HBO Max first, there's no dog and there's no van, but we have our four key characters through a different lens."
Source: Twitter, Warner Bros. Discovery
