Jinkies! HBO Max’s Velma Series Has a Release Date

Looks like HBO Max is Velma finally has a release date. The reimagining of one of TV’s most famous mystery solvers will premiere on January 12, 2023. 

Produced by Mindy Kaling, the series acts as an origin story for Velma Dinkley, also played by Kaling. When a corpse is found in her high school, Velma teams up with other members of Mystery Incorporated to solve the mystery. 

And the gang’s all here. Daphne (Constance Wu), Shaggy (Sam Richardson), and Fred (Glenn Howerton) will join the shrewdest member of the crew, with the exception of Scooby-Doo. And while the famous Great Dane will be missing from the series, what will be added is the reimagining of various iconic Scooby-Doo characters. Specifically, Velma is South Asian.

“We want to honor other interpretations and what we think feels really modern,” said Kaling at New York Comic Con. 

And the modern take will certainly be a refreshing addition to the franchise. This HBO Max series comes after the release of the film Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! where Velma was finally introduced as gay. Fans of the orange-clad teenage sleuth were able to witness her become speechless and googly-eyed when she met costume designer Coco Diablo.

While we aren’t sure if Velma will be queer in Kaling’s HBO Max’s series, it is HBO we’re talking about. So, we’re bound to see some LGBTQ+ representation on-screen. But we do have queer voice cast members working behind the scenes, including Shay Mitchell, Jane Lynch, Fortune Feimster, Nicole Byers, Sophie Huber, and Wanda Sykes. 

Joining the rest of voice cast are “Weird Al” Yankovic,” Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ming-Na Wen, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak and Karl-Anthony Towns. 

2023 is right around the corner and so is a new take on these meddling kids.