In the first official trailer for the new adult animated comedy Velma on HBO Max, the title character throws caution to the wind and pokes fun at the critics. Trolls have come out of the woodwork to express their displeasure with the “recent” character shake-up in Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo, following this week’s major disclosure that Velma Dinkley of Scooby-Doo history was in reality a lesbian (gasp). After getting past the first shock of Velma’s (very evident) sexuality, some viewers have taken offence to the fact that the series’ version of the glasses-wearing, brainy member of Mystery, Inc. is not white, but rather South Asian (double gasp).
The creators of Velma, anticipating backlash from conservative viewers, made fun of their potential detractors in the latest trailer. We are introduced to Velma (Mindy Kaling) on a rainy day as she meticulously composes an email to HBO Max expressing her fury that the planned solo series about Judy Jetson would not portray her as “guy crazy.” Writing an angry letter, she mocks internet trolls by adding, “If there is one thing the internet agrees on, it’s that you should never alter anything ever,” before signing off and breathing a sigh of relief because “At least Judy’s still white.” A call comes in at that moment from an unfamiliar number, and a familiar voice asks Velma whether she “likes solving riddles.”
Based on this, you probably know how the remainder of the trailer progresses, with allusions to other well-known horror films until the end. Anti-fans flocked in like lemmings to respond negatively to a production that doesn’t take itself too seriously and aims to give the original characters, who are now over 50 years old, a more multicultural background. The show will serve as Velma’s backstory, but fans will still hear from Constance Wu (Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile), Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso), and Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) in their roles as Velma’s future Mystery Inc. relatives, Daphne (voiced by Wu), Shaggy (voiced by Richardson), and Fred (voiced by Howerton).
The ensemble cast will also feature a bevvy of well-known actors and actresses, such as Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ming-Na Wen, and Cherry Jones. What we’ve seen of the new show so far suggests that it will put a humorous, though somewhat ominous and comical, gloss on the narrative of the gang’s unsung hero. Velma is like the Hermione Granger of Mystery, Inc., saving the day and bailing out her friends whenever they’re in a jam, but no one ever gives her the credit she deserves. There will always be people who criticise efforts like Velma and The Little Mermaid for deviating from the “original plot,” but we can only hope that the voices of those who love these works will be louder than those who want to put them back.
No specific date for Velma’s release has been set as of yet, but look for it around 2023 at the earliest.