HBO Max finally unveils the new adult Velma series starring Mindy Kaling. The show will give viewers a mature origin story for Velma and her friends, as first seen at New York Comic Con.
The HBO Max panel shared a preview of Velma, where the group began solving a mystery before officially becoming the notorious crime-solving gang. That first look shockingly consisted of gross murder, plenty of profanity, and even some nudity. Mindy Kaling lends her voice to Velma Dinkley, as viewers can hear the preview episode where she explains the chilling murder mystery.
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The Velma series for adults is absolutely rated “Not for children”
The entire voice cast was also revealed, including Constance Wu as Daphne, Sam Richardson as Shaggy, and Glenn Howerton as Fred. In the preview, viewers will see Daphne and Velma together in a girl’s locker room when a dead body suddenly fell out of one of the lockers. The victim is identified as Brenda and her head is cut open.
The panel mentioned that the Velma the series is not for children, obviously, and it is a bit on the level of harley quinn and rick and morty. After the announcement of Velma officially becoming a lesbian, she also comes out as South Asian. Kaling said:
“Nobody’s imagination has ever had a problem with a talking dog to solve mysteries, so I think we can handle a brown Velma. When it was announced that I was going to voice Velma, people were very supportive and happy on Twitter. And so I felt good. Then it was announced a month ago that Velma’s character would be reimagined as a South Asian. And people weren’t happy. There was a lot of, like, ‘So not Velma!’ Those kind of tweets. ‘Not the classic Velma I always think of.'” (Going through Deadline)
When the series was announced, people launched racist comments about Kaling’s new project. She addressed the issue when she appeared in Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2021.
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Twitter fans went crazy at the first look at the characters
This time fans have mixed reactions about Shaggy, Daphne and Fred’s first look in the Velma series, and some of them expressed their thoughts on Twitter. Check out these tweets:
Gotta have all the colors of the rainbow in there
— VVillis (@WillisInChains) October 7, 2022
Shaggy changed teams
— Spider-Man (@MrVengeance_) October 6, 2022
— Amell (@amelmallari) October 6, 2022
Judging by the summaries circulating, I have bad news for you…
– My (damaged) soul for a stronger £ (@Cassius335) October 6, 2022
why does fred look like he just came out of a gay webtoon
– sophie (@sophie_gm8) October 6, 2022
There are more and more reasons why I don’t watch this show. pic.twitter.com/9yJEN05g3c
— Sunset Shimmer’s Strongest Simp (@KatoNeg11) October 6, 2022
Many viewers are still not ready to see the diversity on screen, or perhaps a character they grew up watching suddenly change identities. It is important for filmmakers to be careful when translating a depiction to the screen. But, Kaling also said in her speech that she doesn’t care if people freak out about it in the Velma series.
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