Summary
-
Velma
Season 2 sets premiere date on Max, aiming to overcome mixed reviews with dark and mature content. - Despite controversy, the show was renewed due to high viewership, sticking to its original vision.
- Creator defends casting choices and story changes, aiming to be a unique part of the
Scooby-Doo
universe.
Velma has set its Season 2 premiere date on Max for a second round of Mindy Kaling’s heavily criticized Scooby-Doo spin-off. The new episodes of the series will arrive on April 25, and will be hoping for a better reception than Season 1’s rough ride.
Mindy Kaling’s animated Scooby-Doo prequel will reimagine Velma as a character of East Asian descent in a different world where ‘there’s no dog and no van.’
Release Date January 12, 2023
Seasons 1
Studio Warner Bros. Animation
Franchise Scooby-Doo
One of the biggest surprises of 2023 was Velma being renewed for a second season, as the show scored record viewing figures for Max at the same time as delivering a dismal set of reviews. Season 1 scored a lowly 37% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that was impressive compared to the 7% approval rating from audiences. Velma initially captured attention for its bold reimagining of the iconic Mystery Inc. gang from the Scooby-Doo franchise, but very quickly the popularity of the series became more about people tuning in to see if the online hate for the series was justified.
This adult-animated series delves into Velma’s investigation into her mother’s disappearance and a series of gruesome murders, which, along with several other major changes, ensured that this show was much darker and more mature than any of the previous iterations of the franchise. Along with Kaling, the voice cast includes Glenn Howerton as Fred, Sam Richardson as Shaggy, and Constance Wu as Daphne, which itself became a controversial subject of its own online due to many of the characters being more diverse than their original versions.
Will Velma Season 2 Improve on Its Original Run?
Max
The one thing that is clear about Velma’s second season is that there are unlikely to be any major changes made in order to please those who were not happy with the show the first time around. The voice cast as creative team remain in place and after wanting to do something different with the franchise, for better or worse, the result ended in a renewal which is now about to unveil the fruits of its labor.
When previously addressing the controversies around the show, creator Charlie Grandy explained that despite the reaction to the series, they had not done anything to take away the older versions of the cartoon that are still out there. He said:
“The original Hanna-Barbera shows are still out there to watch. We are not erasing the originals. We just want to be a little ice planet on the outer regions of the Scooby-verse!”
Grandy also hit back at the criticizms over the race-swapping of several characters, noting that the changes made had the full backing of Warner Bros. and was never an issue for anyone involved in making the show. He said:
“None of these characters are rooted to being white. We were worried about going to Warner Bros. and asking them to do it, but they said, ‘Do it. It’s time! Just make sure it’s funny and good!'”
Related Velma Becomes the Ultimate Paradox as Demand Soars But Thousands of Negative Reviews Flood In Velma has continued its ratings slump, but its “in-demand” score jumped a massive 127% week-on-week.
While making it “funny and good” became something that was lost in a wave of complaints over the show being “nasty” and “inflammatory,” Season 2 appeared to have already been on the cards before the official renewal was announced, and even prior to the series’ reactions being logged. What happens in the wake of the new season’s release will likely be a much better indication of the feeling surrounding Velma as a whole package.
Velma
Season 2 will be released on Max on April 25.
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