Mindy Kaling will not back down from criticism against the South Asian Velma Dinkley from the new Scooby-Doo spinoff.
Kaling presented a first look at the South Asian Velma for Warner Bros at its upfront this past Wednesday, NBC News reported. She discussed the upcoming adult-oriented spinoff Velma that is set to be released on HBO Max later this year.
Kaling is voicing Velma and is the executive producer of the upcoming show, USA Today reported.
Kaling pointed out the character’s darker skin tone and ethnic background.
“Hopefully you noticed my Velma is South Asian,” Kaling said at the presentation according to USA Today. “If people freak out about that, I don’t care. Nobody ever complained about a talking dog solving mysteries so I don’t think they’ll be upset over a brown Velma.”
However, Kaling had previously acknowledged a backlash from fans during her appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers last July, USA Today reports.
“There was a lot of, ‘So, not Velma?’ Those kinds of tweets,” Kaling said. “It made me think, ‘OK, we’ve got to be really careful with this character,’ which we will be because we love her and she’s going to have great adventures.”
This isn’t the first time Velma’s ethnic background has been changed, Ceng News reports. A Scooby-Doo fan pointed out in a Tweet Velmа is а Lаtinа character in Scoob! in 2020.
The series will explore Velma Dinkley’s origin story and will also feature the rest of the Mystery Inc. characters, Ceng News reports. Other executive producers such as Chаrlie Grаndy, Howаrd Klein, аnd Sаm Register have joined the project as well.
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