During New York Comic Con 2022, The Workprint attended a press conference for Velma, an adult-animated series headed to HBO Max chronicling the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang.
Headed into the presser there was one big piece of news rocking the Scooby-Doo franchise. Velma Dinkley is a lesbian.
Earlier this week clips from the newest movie in the franchise, Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, show a meeting between Velma and costume designer Coco Diablo which leaves Velma blushing. It’s clear as day that Velma is crushing hard on Coco.
Velma first meets Coco Diablo in “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo”#Scoobydoohistory pic.twitter.com/TnWGS0B5GK
— Scooby-Doo History (@scoobyhistory) October 4, 2022
Velma’s reveal is not a surprise to many as the character has been hailed as a gay icon for young women. It wasn’t until Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! that Velma being a lesbian received an on-screen confirmation.
During the press conference, it didn’t take long until the question of how the new series would address Velma’s sexual orientation was raised to showrunner Charlie Grandy and the voice of Velma herself, Mindy Kaling.
“Yes, we’re very aware of the story,” said Charlie Grandy. “I think it’s great that you can tell these stories about Velma that have been talked about forever, but now you can address them in all the different iterations of Velma. We don’t want to give away any spoilers about that episode.”
“Her self-discovery is a really big part of this series,” Kaling added. “One of the biggest appeals for Charlie and I about doing this was when we started working on the show and Charlie started writing the first script it was like… that’s a big part of it. We didn’t want to ignore it. It’s what’s interesting to people. She’s an icon for young gay women and I think that’s really interesting to us. Her figuring it out is a big part of the show and why it is really fun to do.”
Velma will premiere in 2023 on HBO Max.
