Scooby-Doo has been one of the most recognizable properties in pop culture for over 50 years. Recently the group of young mystery solvers made headlines for revealing that Velma was a lesbian in their new animated film Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!. Now former Velma actress Linda Cardellini has commented on the updated character, and she has nothing but praise for the news.
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly promoting the third and final season of her Netflix series Dead To Me, Cardellini said, "Velma has been around since 1969; I just went trick or treating with my daughter and there were a lot of Velmas out there, so I love that she still has this place in culture that is sort of always active for decades." She continued on saying, "And I love — you know, I think it's been hinted at so many times, and I think it's great that it's finally out there." Cardellini amazingly played the glasses-wearing orange sweater lover in 2002’s live-action Scooby-Doo and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Those films were critically panned at the time, but have rightfully become cult classics in the eyes of Millennials and Gen Z youths who watched them as kids.
That mystery-solving duology was also famously written by James Gunn who’s now known for superhero epics like The Suicide Squad and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Gunn has been very open in the past about how he originally intended his Velma to be a lesbian, but WB cut that aspect of the character down so much that you could barely notice it in the final product. The sequel fared even worse in that department as WB gave Velma a boyfriend. Cardellini now joins many fans of the character and other past Velma actresses like Hayley Kiyoko who have celebrated this joyous news.
In Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! Mystery Inc. are found in a bad rut when mysteries dry up after they apprehend evil costume designer Coco Diablo who made every costume found at the center of all their iconic mysteries over the years. However, when doppelgänger ghosts of the gang show up, Mystery Inc. enlists the help of Diablo to solve the case. Diablo is who Velma falls in love with. To WB and the filmmakers credit, there is no and, ifs, or buts about Velma’s sexuality in this film. It's a major step forward for this kind of representation in children's animation, and it fits naturally into the story. The best part is the movie itself is one of the best direct-to-DVD Scooby movies WB has made in quite some time. The animation is great, the film is hilarious, it has a lot of loving nods to the franchise's spooky past, and the soundtrack (perusal with Scooby-Doo) is killer.
In the same interview, Cardellini also was asked if she would be open to returning to the role, and she said, “Oh God, yeah!” However, she followed that up with, "I'm probably too old". There have been rumblings of a third live-action Scooby-Doo film for a while now with Cardellini’s co-star Matthew Lillard and Gunn entertaining the idea. Lillard is still the voice of Shaggy to this day. Also, to respond to Cardellini, you’re definitely not too old to play this character.
There has been a lot of love for Velma lately. In addition to Velma now officially being a lesbian, the character is getting her own self-titled adult HBO Max animated series where she’ll be voiced by the great Mindy Kaling. Until that particular blood-soaked series premieres next year, you can view Cardellini’s full EW interview on their website.
You can also stream Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! on HBO Max now. The trailer for Trick or Treat is down below: