Velma boss opens up about the exploration of her queer relationship in new series

Mindy Kaling has opened up about the decision to give Velma Dinkley a queer relationship in HBO Max’s upcoming animated series Velma.

Discussing the character’s sexuality alongside creator Charlie Grandy, Kaling, who works as an executive producer on the series as well as voicing the character, said the show’s characterisation of Velma was a “gift to explore”.

“I work on a couple of other shows about young women, and it just felt like this gift to explore, knowing that there’s all these expectations for the character. It was for this reason why it really felt worthy to do an origin story of her,” she told Collider.

Grandy added that the pair’s plans for Velma’s sexuality were embraced by the network, revealing that the series would include a kiss between Velma and Constance Wu’s Daphne.

Related: Scooby-Doo officially makes Velma a lesbian

The show’s decision to make Velma part of the LGBTQ+ community comes after numerous debates over the character’s sexuality over the past few years. In 2022 animated film Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, Velma develops a crush on costume designer Coco Diablo, with the character confessing her feelings to her friends.

The decision to give Velma a same-sex crush was later welcomed by Linda Cardellini, who played the character in James Gunn’s live-action Scooby-Doo movies of the early ’00s.

“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,” she said (via Entertainment Weekly).

Related: Scooby-Doo’s Velma is actually queer (and always has been)

Guardians of the Galaxy director Gunn had previously revealed that he too had tried to highlight the character’s sexuality in his films, but the scenes hadn’t made the final cut.

“In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” Gunn wrote on Twitter. “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).”

Velma is available to stream on HBO Max.