The upcoming movie Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! seems to confirm fan speculation about Velma Dinkley’s interest in women.
HBO MaxThe new film was made available for purchase through digital platforms on Tuesday, and footage of it has been widely circulated on social media. Some viral messages focus on fans’ elated reactions to scenes featuring the bespectacled sleuth, as expressed in Kate Micucci’s new film, which shows an interest in the female character Coco Diablo, voiced by Myrna Velasco.
After Velma seems in love with meeting Coco, a fashion designer with a criminal past, Velma’s old friend and fellow detective Daphne (Grey Griffin) quip“I didn’t know convicted felons were your type.”
This leads a confused Velma to reply, “What? Type – me? Please. Who has time for a type? We’ve got our work to do and I’m laser-focused on… OK, who am I taking for the crazy? I’m crushing terribly, Daphne! What shall I do? What shall I say?”
Another clamp shows Daphne trying to help Velma have a casual conversation with Coco by giving her a push and saying, “Now’s your chance to talk to her.” Daphne later pulls Velma aside when it’s clear that Velma’s small-talk skills could use some polishing.
Velma first debuted as a lead character on Scooby-Doo, where are you!Hanna-Barbera Productions’ animated series that premiered in 1969. The character, a longtime favorite of the LGBTQ community, will be the focus of HBO Max’s upcoming animated series Velmaon which she will be voiced by executive producer Mindy Kaling.
Following widespread fan speculation in recent decades about whether Velma identifies as LGBTQ, Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated producer Tony Cervone wrote on social media in 2020 that the character was written as gay for the Cartoon Network series which signed in April 2013 after two seasons. Cervone wrote that Velma and co-character Marcie Fleach would have pursued romantic feelings for each other if the series had been extended.
In 2020, James Gunn, who is credited with writing the screenplay for the 2002 live-action Warner Bros. film Scooby Doo starring Linda Cardellini as Velma, tweeting that “Velma was explicitly gay in my original script,” but studio intervention resulted in this being removed from the theater version of the film. (His tweet has since been deleted.)
Seth Green played Patrick Wisely, the male love interest to Velma, in the 2004 film’s sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashedwhich Gunn also wrote.
Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!available now for on-demand purchase, begins streaming October 15 on HBO Max.