Why Velma’s R-Rated Scooby Doo Spinoff Is A Bad Idea
HBO Max's Mindy Kaling-starring R-rated Scooby-Doo spinoff Velma is set to reinvent the series as an adults-only affair, but there is a reason that this popular idea has never been realized before. HBOMax’s Velma was first announced in 2021, with the first image from the animated series being shared in May 2022. An R-rated reinvention of the Scooby-Doo franchise, Velma will star executive producer Mindy Kaling as the titular heroine. Judging by the gore and nudity on display in the show's earliest preview image, Velma will be making the most of the show's lack of content restrictions.
However, while this idea sounds original, a cursory search online proves that adults-only reinventions of the Scooby-Doo mythos are nothing new. The Adult Swim sketch comedy series Robot Chicken featured sketches that saw the Mystery Inc gang join forces with Lisbeth Salander and face off against the Friday the 13th franchise villain Jason Voorhees, while South Park offered a ribald, scatological parody of the Scooby-Doo cast back in season 3 with “Korn’s Groovy Pirates Ghost Mystery.” Admittedly, Velma does mark the franchise’s first attempt to reinvent Scooby-Doo as an R-rated property, but this effort may prove misguided.
Related: Everything We Know About Velma, The Adult Scooby-Doo Spinoff
Although the idea of a gorier, scarier, and swearier Scooby-Doo is popular among the show's sizable fandom, there is a reason that director James Gunn’s live-action Scooby-Doo movies ended up being rated PG. Some of the franchise’s best incarnations lean into its kid-friendly premise, while the joke of making Shaggy’s drug use explicit is about the only punchline that an R-rated Scooby-Doo facilitates. Velma’s violent reinvention ofScooby-Doo also
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