Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Velma is confirmed as lesbian in new Scooby-Doo film after years of sexual ambiguity

Character was never given explicitly gay storylines in earlier live-action iterations, despite creators verifying her sexuality

Inga Parkel
Thursday 06 October 2022 04:40 EDT
Comments
Top 10 Best Scooby-Doo Movies of All Time

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Velma is officially a lesbian in the new animated film Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, finally confirming a well-known fact among fans and Scooby-Doo creatives.

Following Amazon Prime Video’s release of the newest iteration of the iconic childhood franchise on Tuesday (4 October), a clip of Velma’s first encounter with her crush, villain Coco Diablo, has gone viral.

“WOOO! Gay Velma!” one fan tweeted, with another adding: “AHHHHHH! About time they get it right!”

The recent verification of Velma’s sexuality isn’t too surprising for many as James Gunn, the writer of the early live-action movies, and Tony Cervone, former supervising producer on the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated series, previously confirmed Velma’s sexual identity, but said they were never able to officially show it onscreen.

Gunn shared a tweet in 2020 saying that he had “tried” to make Velma a visible lesbian in the live-action movies, “but the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)”.

“In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” he added.

In an Instagram post during 2020’s Pride month, Cervone wrote: “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 when she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why.

“There are hints about the why in that episode with the mermaid, and 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 time 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.”

Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! is out now on Prime Video.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in