After its announcement last year, fans had a lot of questions about the upcoming HBO Max exclusive Scooby-Doo spin-off, Velma, which set its sights on drawing in an adult audience. While some questions have been answered, one that was seldom known was when we'd get to see watch the show itself. The release has been under wraps for some time, but earlier this month, we finally got our answer.
As it turns out, the show will drop on HBO Max on January 13, 2023.
Telling the origin story of one of the least loved -- yet arguably most important -- characters of the gang, Velma Dinkly, the show will see her life before forming Mystery Inc. with Fred, Shaggy, Daphne, and the missing-from-the-show Scooby-Doo.
Co-creator and Velma voice actor, Mindy Kaling, will share the background spotlight with comedian and TV writer, Charlie Grandy, who has his past writing for live-action shows like The Office and The Mindy Project. Q-Force, BoJack Horseman, and Hoops actor, Sam Richardson voices Shaggy in this adult animated spin-off. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor, Glenn Howerton, will play Fred while Wish Dragon's Constance Wu voices Daphne.
Other notable names involved in this origin story include Wreck-It-Ralph's Jane Lynch, Q-Force's Wanda Sykes, Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Russell Peters, King of the Hill's Stephen Root, Family Guy's Gary Cole, Scooby-Doo vet, Frank Welker, and more.
Velma has been subjected to controversy, mostly due to a slew of changes made to the character and the way the show appears to play out. Chief among the controversies being despite this being a spin-off of Scooby-Doo, neither Scooby nor the Mystery Machine will be present in its run. Some also had issues with changing Velma's race.
Nevertheless, HBO Max, despite axing a ton of animations, kept Velma on its slate, so it must see some value in the show's quality, right? Keep your popcorn ready and your glasses on for its premiere on January 12, 2023.