Ever since the Velma series was announced last year, Velma Dinkley stans have been rooting for her to finally have the queer origin story that she deserves.
The new HBO show follows the infamous character (voiced by Mindy Kaling) as a 15-year-old high school student who joins forces with Fred (Glenn Howerton), Daphne (Constance Wu), and Shaggy (Sam Richardson) to solve a mysterious murder. Sound familiar? Could this be the origin story of Mystery Inc too?
There were originally concerns over HBO’s narrative of the beloved detective’s tale as many believed that they would make her straight in the show, a portrayal that has been repeated many times since the character was first introduced over fifty years ago.
Thankfully the show chose not to go down the same route she has been on over the last few decades. Instead, she begins the show with a crush on Fred but that quickly changes when she discovers her true feelings are for Daphne.
DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A STRAIGHT PERSON TO YOU? #velma pic.twitter.com/AVx7tnqmkQ
— َ (@ungodlywests) January 12, 2023
Paste Magazine writes that “Her jumping-off crush point is Fred, but those feelings for him shift faster than the speed of sound as a sweet and well-developed romance between Velma and her frenemy Daphne is explored”.
We all remember the infamous kiss between Linda Cardellini’s Velma and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Daphne that was cut from the 2002 live-action film right? Well… It looks like we are finally getting the romance between the two that we have all been waiting for!
However, as exciting as that is, fans still appear to be divided over the show.
Lol say what you want about Velma, but this is shaping up to be one of the best looking Scooby-Doo cartoons.
The artists, color stylists and compositors all deserve their flowers pic.twitter.com/SCHgdSlV58
— Solid JJ (@SolidusJJ) January 9, 2023
Viewers of the new Velma series have taken to Twitter to share their mixed feelings, with one user saying “Yeah, Velma is trying to be meta and essentially the Harley Quinn show with Scooby-Doo characters. It’s a bit much and not really funny. #Velma #HBOMax”.
Yeah, Velma is trying to be meta and essentially the Harley Quinn show with Scooby-Doo characters. It's a bit much and not really funny. #Velma #HBOMax https://t.co/6vfcAnVWHY
— Matthew (@mattbo_0) January 12, 2023
Another user stated “I’m halfway through the second episode of #velma and I’m honestly not able to push-on. This writing is so exhaustingly meta, egregious and offensive to its target audience that I’m unsure how it was even green lit in the first place.”
I’m halfway through the second episode of #velma and I’m honestly not able to push-on. This writing is so exhaustingly meta, egregious and offensive to its target audience that I’m unsure how it was even green lit in the first place.
For context: pic.twitter.com/mp6bXe3VZY
— James Sismanes (@JamesSismanes) January 13, 2023
The series is set for a ten-episode arc on HBO, with the first two episodes available now.
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