On the streamer’s official X/Twitter feed April 1, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max subtly announced the second season of its mixed-reaction Scooby-Doo spin-off Velma, executive produced by and starring Mindy Kaling. The new episodes will drop April 25.
Created by comedy writer Charlie Grandy (SNL, The Office, The Mindy Project), the adult animated comedy reimagines the classic Hanna-Barbera characters as it explores the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and under appreciated brains of the Mystery, Inc. operation. As Velma works to unravel the disappearance of her mother and the murders of local teenage girls, the Scoob squad navigate a queer love quadrangle.
Premiered in January 2023, Velma received mixed but overall low critical reviews and some rather violent viewer reactions. While the voice acting (carried out by core cast Kaling, Glenn Howerton, Sam Richardson and Constance We) and animation won praise, reviews were split on its challenging adult humor, meta storytelling and general departure from the traditional Scooby-Dooniverse. Mystery, Inc. fans were highly critical of the show online, decrying its diverse recharacterizations — in addition to Kaling’s South Asian American and bisexual Velma, “Shaggy” is non-cowardly (but still snack-loving) African American boy who goes by Norville (Richardson) and Daphne (Wu) is a popular East Asian American girl raised by two adoptive moms who has “complicated feelings” for Velma.
The S2 release comes in spite of the show’s distressingly low ratings; one of the lowest TV shows on IMDb and clocking in with 39% approval from critics and a 7% from audiences on RottenTomatoes. The show’s shockingly poor reception combined with vitriolic responses to storytelling and character choices ironically led views to leap as HBO Max viewers wanted to rubberneck the supposed cartoon car crash. However, the show did find actual admirers (some pointedly identifying as “those of us who actually watched the show”).
Perhaps in the wake of Velma’s more recent viral wave from her representation as a lesbian in the canon title Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, 2024 audiences will be more welcoming to the kids from Crystal Cove.
Per the Max announcement, toon fans can also watch out for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (April 5), Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (April 6) and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (April 22) coming to the platform this month.
Sadly, the second season trailer is not available yet, so we just have to rewatch the first season trailer to refresh our memory!
[H/T Comicbook.com]
