One of the most recognizable characters in cartoons has become officially recognized as a lesbian in a canon franchise film with the recent release of Trick Or Treat Scooby-Doo! in which the character Velma Dinkley develops a crush on a woman.
The subject of Velma’s affections is an original character named Coco Diablo, who is also bespectacled with a turtleneck like Velma’s, and is also apparently the leader of a crime syndicate the Mystery Gang is pitted against.
While some fans have always contended that the character was gay in her previous iterations, it had never been confirmed by her original creators. studio brass at Warner Bros. was also allegedly hesitant to allow creatives working on Scooby Doo projects to make implications about Velma’s sexuality.
Director James Gunn, who helmed two live-action Scooby-Doo adaptations, tweeted in 2020 that Velma was “explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).”
Knowing that we could have seen a queer Velma way back in 2002 makes this iteration a little bittersweet, but it’s still incredible to have it be more than just implied.
Trick Or Treat Scooby-Doo! was directed by Audie Harrison, and features Kate Micucci as Velma, and Myrna Velasco as CoCo Diablo.
