Mindy Kaling, who voices Velma in the upcoming HBO Max’s adult animated series, Velma, has shared some details about how she and the show’s creator, Charlie Grandy, came up with the origin story and love lives of the Mystery Inc gang. Kaling, who also executive produces the series, stated that the idea of Velma’s iconic character and the expectations is what made the origin story of Velma worthy.
Kaling noted that there have been speculations about Velma’s sexuality for years and the idea of exploring her character felt like a gift. “I work on a couple other shows about young women, and it just felt like this gift to explore, knowing that there’s all these expectations for the character. It was for this reason why it really felt worthy to do an origin story of her.”
For years, fans have speculated about Velma’s sexuality, and even directors like James Gunn have admitted to trying and failing to explore Velma’s sexuality, Deadline reports. In 2022, half a century after Scooby-Doo was first conceived, Velma Dinkley was confirmed as a lesbian in the animated movie Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo, receiving applause from fans, including former Velma actress Linda Cardellini. Cardellini, who played the iconic character in 2002’s live-action Scooby-Doo and its sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, noted that she loves the fact that Velma’s sexuality was finally revealed.
Speaking about the direction for the character in the new Velma series, Grandy noted that he and Kaling met no resistance for the changes they pitched. He added that there was bound to be some drama and discomfort in a story about teenagers solving mysteries. The creator, who revealed that Velma and Daphne kiss in the series, noted they needed to make the kiss a part of a larger story. In the HBO Max series, Velma and Daphne (voiced by Constance Wu) are best friends-turned-rivals due to Daphne’s rise to popularity, while Velma reels over the disappearance of her mother.
Velma’s sexuality isn’t the only change in the series as some tweaks were made to the other members of Mystery Inc. Fred (voiced by Glenn Howerton) seems to be involved in the murders of two girls and the disappearance of Velma’s mother, and Norville (voiced by Sam Richardson) is a band nerd who is expected to become "stoner-coded Shaggy," however, out of all the changes from the diverse cast to Velma’s sexuality, the most obvious change is the absence of Scooby-Doo. Grandy had explained that Scooby-Doo was what made the franchise a kid’s show, adding that Warner Brothers Animation also didn’t give them the right to use the dog.
Velma is now available to watch on HBO Max.