HBO Max’s latest adult animated comedy premieres today, and it’s a little detour: Velmawith and executive production of I have never Creator Mindy Kaling. Scooby-Doo’s sweater queen is a surprising character to build an R-rated comedy around, and chances are you have a few questions. We also! Here’s what we found based on the first two episodes, which premiere today.
So Velma is a prequel right?
Yes. Velma takes place before the Mystery Inc. gang from the classic Scooby-Doo cartoons got together or even met the pup that made them famous. The premiere describes itself as an origin story for Velma, a smart-ass, frustrated high school student whose interest in (and fear of) mystery stems from the disappearance of her crime-writer mother.
How dare they invalidate? A puppy named Scooby-Doo like that?
I know. but Velma does its own thing, with a new approach to characters that starts with their basic archetype and takes them in an entirely new (and frenzied) direction.
It’s an adult cartoon, right? How grown up are we talking?
Pretty grown up! The premiere begins with two cockroaches being boned and then immediately moves into a naked girl shower fight in the dressing room between characters having a metatextual argument about Premiere episodes using nudity to cynically grab viewers’ attention to win. So yes, it’s adult in the sense that there’s swearing and sexual content, and it’s also adult in the sense that it’s interested in jokes that fly over your head unless you’re at it long enough, to watch a lot of television. Daphne is also a drug dealer.
As well as Harley Quinn?
Yes! Harley Quinn is tonally a good reference point. It’s not as violent or unconventional – these aren’t Gotham City super-criminals, after all – but in his goofy crime thriller, Velma is similarly interested in using his characters to make a candid but fun exploration of queerness and what it’s like when radically different characters come together.
I’m noticing a lack of doo-ness here. What is Scooby-Doo?
Honestly? Not much! But Scooby-Doo doesn’t really have much to offer either, if we’re being honest. That’s part of the charm! For now, the biggest similarity (aside from the characters and their iconic, subtly updated outfits) is the presence of a mystery that’s surprisingly gruesome: someone is murdering Crystal Cove High School’s hottest girls and stealing their brains.
Otherwise, the show’s character dynamics aren’t necessarily drawn from Scooby-Doo’s lyrics, but rather from Scooby-Doo fandom. In VelmaObservations Modern Adults Might Make Scooby-Doo, where are you! become the actual character dynamic: Doesn’t Fred seem like an entitled white man? How does Shaggy (here still using his government name Norville) get to such a burnout? Doesn’t Daphne seem like a mean girl? And of course, What did Velma have sexual tensions with everyone but mainly Daphne?
But I heard there won’t be a dog. Is that true?
Unfortunately, you’re right: there is no Scooby-Doo in this Scooby-Doo show. I watch many Scooby-Doo! secret integrated to manage something.
Oh man. Wasn’t that a great show?
Sure was! And be in addition Stream on HBO Max when you need a fix on the classic Scoob with a modern twist that’s more family-friendly.
Two episodes of Velma are now streaming on HBO Max, with two new episodes arriving weekly.
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