Entertainment

Mindy Kaling’s Velma set to premiere in January on HBO Max

Kaling faced backlash for making the titular character South Asian.

Mindy Kaling presenting the first look at Velma

By: Mohnish Singh

Mindy Kaling’s Velma adaptation has locked an official date for its premiere.

A spinoff of the family-friendly Scooby-Doo series, Velma will officially land on HBO Max on Thursday, January 12, 2023.

Kaling serves as both the creator and star of the series which follows the origin story of Velma Dinkley (Kaling. After a dead body is found in her high school, Velma joins forces with Daphne (Constance Wu), Shaggy (Sam Richardson), and Fred (Glenn Howerton) to solve the murder.

“This original and humorous spin unmasks the complex and colourful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers,” reads the official logline.

Beyond the official date, HBO Max has not revealed any other information. The audience will have to wait a little longer to know if the series will air weekly episodes or a full-season drop.

Apart from Kaling, Wu, Richardson, and Howerton, the voice cast of Velma also includes Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, “Weird Al” Yankovic,” Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ming-Na Wen, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Kaling revealed the first look at Velma last year. She faced backlash for making her titular character South Asian. She responded to the accusations on Late Night with Seth Meyers in July 2021, stating that fans on Twitter were “supportive” and “happy” when it was announced that she would be voicing the role of Velma but that soon changed.

“I felt great because these are really intense fans, you know—cartoon, comic book fans, those are huge fans. And especially [for] a legacy show like this. Then it was announced about a month ago that the Velma character would be reimagined as South Asian and people were not happy,” she said.

Keep visiting this space over and again for more updates and reveals from the world of entertainment.