‘Why Not Do Something New?’

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• Mindy Kaling Explains Velma Show’s Diverse Casting: ‘Why Not Do Something New?’

Mindy Kaling has commented on why the reimagined versions of the Mystery Inc. characters needed to be more diverse.

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The Scooby-Doo reboot series Velma has arrived on HBO Max. Imagining a new origin story for Velma Dinkley, the brainiest member of Mystery Inc., the series features Mindy Kaling voicing a South Asian incarnation of the character investigating a murdery mystery surrounding her school. While Scooby-Doo himself isn’t included in any capacity, the series also features reimagined versions of the other members of Mystery Inc., with Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones, Sam Richardson as Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, and Constance Wu as Daphne Blake.

Of course, there are some changes made to these characters, given that Fred is the only character who’s white, as Richardson’s Shaggy is Black and Wu’s Daphne is East Asian. As there had been social media criticism about the “racebending” of these characters ahead of release, this has been well known. Upon the show’s release on HBO Max, creator Charlie Grandy and star/executive producer Kaling shed some light about the reboot’s diverse cast in a new interview with Variety. Grandy said it began with Kaling’s casting as Velma, which naturally led to the suggestion of making the rest of the gang more diverse as well.

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“It started with Mindy saying, ‘I’m voicing Velma; what makes the most sense?’ What Mindy was attracted to in the character, and what I loved, was that the smartest of the gang that solved the mysteries got no credit. Going from that, why not just expand the diversity of the cast?”

Kaling also stressed how much they appreciate the original Scooby-Doo cartoons, but argued that the cast just needed to be more diverse to better reflect how society and television have changed in the decades since Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? first aired in 1969.

“The original Scooby-Doo, which we’re such a fan of, is also really rooted in another era and reflective of the cultural landscape of the ’60s and the ’70s and what people traditionally put on TV. It just felt like, if we can have the characters be anything, why not do something new?”

Related: Velma Trailer Has the Titular Brainiac Investigating a Murdery Mystery Without Scooby-Doo

Velma Is Now Streaming

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The series is getting mixed reviews from critics upon its release, debuting with a 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not yet clear what viewership for the show is like, and time will tell if its critical score raises when more episodes are released. As of now, only the first two episodes of the show’s 10-episode season are available. New episodes will be released every week in pairs until Feb. 9.

Velma is now streaming on HBO Max. You can watch the official trailer for the series below.

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