HBO Max presented, via New York Comic Con, an official teaser for the animated series “Velma”, a spin-off focused on a more adult audience, different from what we saw in “Scooby-Doo”.
So far there is no premiere date set, but we know it will happen sometime in 2023. Mindy Kaling, known for her appearance on ‘The Office’, will be responsible for the voice of Velma .
Below you can see the new trailer:
Honestly, nothing will prepare you for #VelmaTheSeries, but this teaser is a great start… pic.twitter.com/g9YuAJJMSc
— HBO Max (@hbomax) October 6, 2022
Recall that, previously, director and screenwriter James Gunn revealed that the character of Velma, played by Linda Cardellini, would be a lesbian in the original version of the live-action script of ‘Scooby-Doo’, released in 2001.
Warner Bros., however, ended up scrapping that idea.
Have fun watching:
“In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my first screenplay,” he wrote. “But the studio kept watering it down and watering it down, making her ambiguous (in the filmed version), then nothing (the published version), and finally giving her a boyfriend (in the sequel).”
In a 2002 interview, Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Daphne in the big-screen adaptation, revealed to Sci Fi Wire a scene in which her character and Velma kiss. The sequel was eventually deleted from the final cut.
“It wasn’t just for fun,” she commented. The kiss would take place during the body swapping scene, where Daphne’s soul would enter Fred’s (Freddie Prinze Jr.) body.
On his official Instagram, Gunn revealed that he was asked to write and direct a third film to close out the trilogy, according to Comic Book.
At the time, Gunn was responsible for the screenplay of the first two adaptations, but the poor box office of the 2nd film prevented the advancement of the franchise on the big screen.
When a fan asked why Warner didn’t complete the trilogy, the filmmaker replied:
“I made a deal to write and direct the third in 2004, but since the second didn’t make enough money to warrant a third, they ended up dropping the idea.”
While we’ll never know what Gunn has planned for the sequel, his experience in previous films helped him create a unique universe in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”