Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated producer Tony Cervone has confirmed that Velma Dinkley is a lesbian while James Gunn has revealed that the character was supposed to be “explicitly gay” in the 2002 live-action/computer-animated movie.
In a Pride-themed Instagram post of Velma pictured with Marcie “Hot Dog Water” Fleach, Cervone jumped into the comment section to clarify that the bespectacled detective was written as a gay character in the classic cartoon series. All of the comments have since been deleted from the post.
“I’ve said this before, but Velma in Mystery Incorporated is not bi. She’s gay. We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character while she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why,” he wrote, per BuzzFeed.
“If you follow the entire Marcie arc it seems as clear as we could make it 10 years ago. I don’t think Marcie and Velma had to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post reset, they are a couple. You can not like it, but this was our intention,” he concluded in response to a fan.
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Shortly after, James Gunn, who wrote the script for the 2002 film and its sequel, added to the conversation about the character, explaining that Velma was supposed to be “explicitly gay” in the live-action adaptation of the Hanna-Barbera animation, but “the studio just kept watering it down.”
“In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel),” Gunn revealed during a Twitter Q&A.
Scooby and the gang have starred in numerous films and TV shows over the years. Most recently, the iconic Hanna-Barbera characters were given a contemporary update for the CG-animated feature film Scoob!, which premiered on premium VOD and digital ownership on May 15.
In our review of Scoob!, we suggested that the latest Scooby-Doo movie serves as “a springboard for a possible Hanna-Barbera shared movie universe,” as the story gets “a lot of heartfelt mileage out of its exploration of the relationship between man and his four-legged best friend, even if its messaging is simplistic and superficial.”
So grab some Scooby Snacks and find out where you can watch and rent Scoob!
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Scooby-Doo's Velma Is a Lesbian, James Gunn and Mystery Inc. Producer Confirm