Velmathe grown-up Scooby Doo cartoon created by Mindy Kaling, whose cast was announced Thursday at New York Comic Con. Velma’s character was recently confirmed as a lesbian and was in the news last week for talking about a costume designer in Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! Now the shy, bookish girl in the oversized orange sweater gets even more love as Velma gets her own series. Mindy Kaling made the official cast announcement at her panel at NYCC, and it’s full of stars.
Velma was announced in May when Mindy Kaling revealed that the cartoon was not intended for children. On our first look at the show, someone had the top of his head chopped off. But this adult animation spin-off from Scooby Doo will come with talent that can take a little more danger. VelmaThe cast will have a lot of household names from shows kids grew up with Scooby Doo will recognize, and a few more actors that are a joy to watch appear on the scene. Kaling plays the mastermind of Mystery Inc. as we follow Velma to discover her origins in this highly anticipated HBO MAX Scooby Doo series. And the rest of the cast of Velma is no longer a mystery.
Velma’s voice cast
During VelmaDuring Thursday’s panel at New York Comic Con, Kaling revealed that the voice cast will have Sam Richardson as Shaggy, Constance Wu as Daphne and Glenn Howerton as Fred. Sam Richardson, who provided the voice of Doctor Champ on BoJack Horseman and Swamp Thing on Harley Quinn, definitely has the talent for voice acting. And with his recent appearance in Hocus pocus 2, he should be ready for anything spooky to jump out of the corner.
We all know Constance Wu from her role as Rachel Chu in Crazy Rich Asians. The change Rachel Chu goes through in the film to learn what high society is like could play into Wu’s performance as Daphne, who is often portrayed as a dim-witted, privileged cheerleader. Glenn Howerton is the perfect person to play Fred. His character on It’s always sunny in PhiladelphiaDennis has the inflated ego every Fred should have. Dennis’ constant focus on his physical appearance should play hilariously in Fred Scooby Doo series.
Mindy Kaling also provided some pretty amazing talent for the rest of the voice cast, though we don’t know any of their roles yet (probably they’re all villains). The legendary “Weird Al” Yankovic, who was just in the news for his TIFF biopic. Jane Lynch is a hilarious stand-up comedian known for her work on cheerfulness. Ming-Na Wen was the voice of Mulan in 1998; more recently she was Fennec Shand in Boba Fett’s book. Wanda Sykes is also a legendary stand-up comedian and is Daphne Lido on Blackish.
Stephen Root was Milton on Office space and played Bill Dauterive on King of the Hill in the 90s. Melissa Fumero was Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Nicole Byer is a fantastic comedian and votes for both Tuca & Bertie and Bob’s Burgers. Shay Mitchell from Liars will be on the show, as well as 2015 first round draft pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Townes.
The series also grabbed Frank Welker. A longtime voice actor for the dog itself, Welker has been involved with the franchise since its inception, serving as the original voice for Fred in 1969. Other notable voices include stand-up comedian Russell Peters, Gary Cole (Office space), Ken Leung (The power awakens), Cherry Jones (The village), stand-up comedian Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Sarayu Blue (Never have I ever), Debby Ryan (The Suite Life on Deck), and Kulap Vilaysak (The office).
Why the controversy?
Velma has been making headlines recently for a few reasons. People cheered that the character was officially written as a lesbian in Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! Fans had envisioned the character this way for a long time. People pointed to signs of Velma’s quick resignation from men throughout the franchise and saw little hints that she might have a crush on certain women. Original by James Gunn Scooby Doo script had an explicitly gay Velma until feedback from producers slowly toned her down and gave her a boyfriend.
Mindy Kaling also got some criticism from viewers after our first look at her now controversial HBO Max series. She had turned Velma from white to South Asian. Responding to the racebending reaction, she was famously quoted as saying, “Hopefully you noticed my Velma is South Asian. If that drives people crazy, I don’t care.” And so she quickly stopped the argument before it started.
Of course people never stop talking on the internet, but Kaling’s defense continues in Velmas teaser trailer, which pokes fun at the critique of racing swapping. It seems almost overnight, Velma has become a hero to marginalized groups.