Jinkies! New 'Scooby-Doo' movie makes Velma explicitly gay

Velma, one of the key characters in the widely beloved world of "Scooby-Doo" kids' shows and movies, is clearly portrayed as a lesbian in the new movie "Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!"

Movie clips circulating online show Velma smitten with female character Coco Diablo.

In one clip, after setting eyes on Coco, Velma's glasses fog up, her cheeks turn red, and she says, "Jinkies."

In another clip, Velma visibly reacts after Coco Diablo says, "The cute one's right," and then grabs Velma's shoulder.

And in another clip, Velma exclaims to Daphne, "OK, who am I kidding? I'm crushing big-time, Daphne. What do I do? What do I say?"

The move to make Velma explicitly gay in the new animated movie does not come completely out of the blue, as individuals associated with earlier "Scooby-Doo" content have previously indicated that they viewed Velma as a gay character. But the on-screen evidence of Velma's homosexuality in this new movie will likely disturb many parents who do not want their children exposed to such content.

James Gunn of the 2002 "Scooby-Doo" movie, and its sequel "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed," had wanted to make Velma's character a homosexual, but was blocked from doing so.

"I tried! In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. 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)," Gunn wrote in a tweet in July of 2020 that has apparently been deleted.

Also Tony Cervone, who according to IMDb was a supervising producer with the television series "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated," had said that Velma was meant to be gay in that show.

According to screenshots of an Instagram comment, Cervone noted, "I've said this before, but Velma in Mystery Incorporated is not bi. She's gay. We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character while she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why. There are hints about the why in that episode with the mermaid, and if you follow the entire Marcie arc it seems as clear as we could make it 10 years ago. I don’t think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post reset, they are a couple. You can not like it, but this was our intention."