If fans could invest in the word "jinkies," then the HBO Max animated series Velma would bring a high yield, as the just-released trailer for the Scooby-Doo adaptation teases.
The classic Scooby Gang member Velma Dinkley, as voiced by Mindy Kaling, takes the spotlight in the new series, showcasing her known quirks and then some. The awkward, spectacles-sporting, turtleneck-touting amateur investigator is depicted here as an embattled high school student who finds an uneasy kinship with a certain bunch of van travelers. While, based on what's been revealed, the series appears to be without the scene-stealing, Scooby Snack-craving presence of an iconic talking Great Dane, fans do get to witness an origin tale for the classic crew put through a modern lens.
Velma Gets Murderous
Interestingly, the show's origin tale, in which Velma assembles "the greatest team of spooky mystery solvers ever," kicks off with stakes that are uncharacteristically high for the Scooby-Doo franchise: a legitimate murder. Thus, despite the prequel show's more frenetic-lighthearted cadence and the classic show's typical lack of actual mortal danger, the newly-assembled Scooby Gang members are legitimately dodging death here. However, the mythos wouldn't be recognizable without the presence of spooky monsters, and the Velma trailer is packed with them in all their oddly ostentatious glory -- even if they typically turn out to be avarice-motivated human scammers who would have gotten away with it if wasn't for those "meddling kids."
The full Velma trailer arrives a few months after an initial short teaser for the adults-aimed animated serial. That clip cemented the show's no-kids designation with a scene featuring Velma speaking on the phone with a mysterious caller who gives her the old "I'm in the house" routine, evoking the ominous trope frequently utilized by the Scream film franchise. Subsequently, a knife-wielding killer bursts into her room, leaving things on an ambiguous note as blood splashes on the screen; a setup, while humorous in its delivery, that's certainly not for children. In fact, the clip even zinged would-be internet detractors in advance, with a meta line stating, "If there is one thing the internet agrees on, it's that you should never change anything, ever."
And speaking of changes, besides glaringly obvious alterations to the ethnicities of Velma and Shaggy, the series also seems poised to lean into the topic of the eponymous character's long-speculated sexuality. Indeed, Velma's official logline describes the series as an "original and humorous spin unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers," depicting its protagonist as "the unsung and under-appreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang."
Joining Kaling (who also serves as executive producer) in the main Velma voice cast are Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones, Constance Wu as Daphne Blake and Sam Richardson as Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.
Velma premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 12.
Source: HBO Max