In two feature-length Scooby-Doo movies, the mega-smart Velma Dinkley of Mystery Inc. had an implied romance with a male waiter in the 2002 film and started a relationship with Seth Green’s character, Patrick Wisely, in the 2004 sequel. Almost two decades later, a new animated Scooby-Doo movie is reaching out to a new generation, and the rumors of Velma being gay have now been officially confirmed to be true. Scooby-Doo alum Linda Cardellini has now shared her reaction to the news of her former character coming out as a lesbian.
In the new animated movie Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, Velma develops a crush on Coco, a high-end Halloween costume designer. Linda Cardellini, who portrayed our favorite brainiac detective in the two aforementioned live-action movies, spoke to Entertainment Weekly promoting the third and final season of Dead to Me, and she shared her feelings about one of her beloved characters being a lesbian in the new animated film. Said the actor,
Velma has been around since 1969; I just went trick or treating with my daughter and there were a lot of Velmas out there, so I love that she still has this place in culture that is sort of always active for decades. And I love — you know, I think it's been hinted at so many times, and I think it's great that it's finally out there.
Velma has been considered an LGBTQ+ icon for years. According to Comic Book Resources, Velma was theorized as gay for years as she never showed any romantic interest in any of the series’ characters. This led to people assuming that Velma had no interest in boys, but preferred girls instead. In fact, some theories propose that the clever sleuth joined Mystery Inc. to get near Daphne, who she may have possibly had a crush on. While I personally think that a woman who doesn’t express interest in boys should not automatically have an assumption of liking girls, it would make sense in this case, as Daphne and Fred ended up together in the movies. So, why not give Velma a real love interest too?
Scooby-Doo was Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn’s first big Hollywood screenplay to get produced. In his original version of the script, Velma was actually written as “explicitly gay”, but the studio kept “watering it down” where Velma’s sexuality went from ambiguous to gone only to finally have a boyfriend in the sequel. A way edgier version of the script even considered a steamy kiss between her and Daphne.
You didn’t see too many LGBTQ+ characters in early 2000s films that were out and proud. Movies are starting to get braver today and including more same-sex couples (Lightyear, the Pixar movie from this past summer, notably includes a lesbian relationship and features the characters kissing). When a young audience watches animated movies and TV shows today, those of all sexualities will be happy to know they’re being represented.
The Velma character has been going through many changes for this generation. Not only is she gay in Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, but they’ll be a change to Velma’s race in the Scooby-Doo spinoff Velma. Played by The Office’s Mindy Kaling, the comedic actress felt that it would make sense for the role to be Indian if she would be voicing her. While this casting choice was not without backlash, Kaling stood by the decision to change Velma's race as she said animation gives creators the power to do anything they want.
Scooby-Doo alum Linda Cardellini gave her blessing for Velma Dinkley’s lesbian representation. In the EW interview, she adds that she would love to reprise the role again if only she weren’t “too old” to play her now. We’ll always have the memories of when Cardellini wasn’t afraid to “get jinky” with playing the glasses-losing, “brains” of the Scooby-gang.
You can watch Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! on your HBO Max subscription and Linda Cardellini’s live-action Scooby-Doo movies on your Netflix subscription.
