‘Velma’ Will Be East Asian In Mindy Kaling’s Scooby-Doo Spinoff — And ‘There’s No Dog And No Van’

What would a Scooby-Doo spinoff look like without Scooby-Doo? Just ask Mindy Kaling, whose upcoming adult animated series Velma will give Velma Dinkley, Mystery Incorporated’s most underrated crime-solver, the attention she has long deserved. But Kaling’s Velma won’t be your mom’s Velma.

According to The Mary Sue, Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics president Tom Ascheim shared some details about the upcoming HBO Max series at The TV Kids Summer Festival:

“We have a not for children, Mindy Kaling project called Velma because she was excited to reimagine what Scooby-Doo would be like if Velma were of East Asian descent and lived in a different world. And in that version, which is going on HBO Max first, there’s no dog and no van but we have our 4 key characters through a different lens and I think it’s great. Allowing our creators to play with our IP is super powerful.”

A Scooby-Doo spinoff with no Scoob? And no Mystery Machine? While that may have come as a surprise to some fans of the original series, it was the part about Velma being East Asian that really got people talking—not all of it good (which is both sad and unsurprising).

Some people had to be reminded that Velma was a cartoon, not a real person.

And that Scooby once drove a car…

Also: That Velma has been Asian before.

And, once again, that she’s not real.

The best news: The “no dog” thing means we won’t be subjected to Scrappy Doo.

A date has not yet been set for Velma’s release.

(Via The Mary Sue)