IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

New 'Scooby-Doo' movie finally depicts Velma as a lesbian

In the movie, she develops a crush on another female character, and fans took notice.
From left, Coco Diablo, Shaggy and Velma in "Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!"
From left, Coco Diablo, Shaggy and Velma in "Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!"Warner Bros. Animation

The creators of a new “Scooby-Doo” movie have finally depicted Velma as a lesbian on screen, after years of speculation about the beloved character’s sexuality but no definitive portrayals of her as queer in the popular cartoon franchise.

Velma crushes on another female character, a costume designer named Coco Diablo, in a Halloween special, “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo,” that was released online Tuesday and will debut on Cartoon Network on Oct. 14. She’s voiced by actor and comedian Kate Micucci. 

In one scene, Velma’s glasses fog up and her cheeks redden as she fawns over Coco. “Jinkies,” Velma says — her classic tag line. She flirts with Coco throughout the movie, clearly smitten.

Velma’s queer sensibilities have long made her a favorite of LGBTQ fans of “Scooby-Doo.” While some of the producers of certain iterations of the show have previously confirmed her character isn’t straight, she hasn’t outwardly flirted or expressed such strong attraction to other female characters in the decadeslong history of the franchise. 

Producer Tony Cervone confirmed in 2020 that Velma was a lesbian in his depiction of her in “Mystery Incorporated,” a cartoon series that ran from 2010 to 2013. 

“We made our intentions as clear as we could ten years ago,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “Most of our fans got it. To those that didn’t, I suggest you look closer.”

James Gunn, the filmmaker behind “Suicide Squad” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise who wrote the live-action “Scooby-Doo” films of the early 2000s, said in 2020 that Velma was originally written as a queer character in those films. But he said the studio, Warner Bros. Pictures, refused to keep her queerness in the script. 

“But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version), and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel),” Gunn wrote at the time. 

Representatives for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which owns both Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Animation, which produced the new Halloween special, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Velma’s more overt expression of her sexuality is the latest example of queer representation in animated films or TV shows, despite this summer’s controversy following the release of Pixar’s “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” which was banned from theaters in Muslim-majority nations for showing a same-sex kiss. A few weeks ago, the writers of the British children’s show “Peppa Pig” included a lesbian couple in an episode after years of calls for more LGBTQ characters. 

Follow NBC Out on TwitterFacebook & Instagram.