Although many fans in the LGBTQ+ community have long been tuned into Velma’s queerness, it’s taken until this point for the character’s sexuality to be made explicit in the Scooby-Doo! canon.

In 2020, Tony Cervone, who worked as a showrunner on the 201o animated series Mystery Incorporated, wrote on Instagram that he intended Velma to be gay in the show, but it was cancelled before she could explore it.

“I’ve said this before, but Velma in Mystery Incorporated is not bi. She’s gay,” he explained. “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.”

James Gunn, who wrote the early live-action films, has also stated that he wanted the character to be openly gay but that it never materialised on screen.

“In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” he tweeted in 2020. “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).”

Trick Or Treat Scooby-Doo! Velma Dinkley is officially a lesbian in the new movie, and the internet is elated