Mindy Kaling assembles the Mystery Inc. gang in Velma trailer
Glenn Howerton, Sam Richardson, and Constance Wu round out the voice cast in the HBO Max animated series based on Scooby-Doo
As the saying goes, high school is hell—now, add in a few mysteries and a ghostly killer, and you’ve got a real rough time ahead. That’s what sets up the origin story of Mystery Inc. and their brainy member Velma Dinkley in HBO Max’s recently released trailer for the adult animated series Velma.
Velma, voiced by The Mindy Project’s Mindy Kaling, has got her usual orange turtleneck/eyewear combo, but she’s much more front-and-center in this ten-episode reboot of the Scooby Doo mythos. Of course, that doesn’t mean the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang won’t be along for the ride, as we see the beginnings of the group with Daphne (Constance Wu), Fred (Glenn Howerton), and Shaggy Norville (Sam Richardson) aiding Velma throughout the trailer.
Kicking off with the murder of a classmate, Velma seems to lean into the meta side of a bunch of teens solving mysteries involving ghosts and a talking dog. In the trailer alone, we get references to Shaggy’s past stoner energy and the longtime online discussion of Velma’s queerness, all wrapped up in Kaling’s usual writing style of snappy dialogue backed by a ton of pop culture tidbits. The whole thing feels like the dark humor of Harley Quinn mixed with the high school weirdness of Clone High, making for what looks like a fun, new take on the decades-old animated series.
Here’s the official synopsis from HBO Max below:
“VELMA is an adult animated comedy series telling the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. This original and humorous spin unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers.”
Beside the main Mystery Inc. teens, the additional voice cast is stacked with names like Jane Lynch (Glee), Wanda Sykes, Russell Peter, Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Stephen Root (Barry), Gary Cole (Family Guy), Ken Leung (Industry), Cherry Jones (The Village), Frank Welker, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer (Grand Crew), Ming-Na Wen (Mulan), Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars), Debby Ryan (Insatiable), Kulap Vilaysak, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Serving as Velma’s showrunner is Charlie Grandy (The Office), as well as executive producer alongside Kaling, Howard Klein, and Sam Register.
Velma premieres with two episodes on HBO Max beginning January 12.