Scooby Doo’s Velma is now openly lesbian. Why fans are overjoyed — but not surprised

Scooby Doo producers are representing Velma as openly lesbian in the brand new movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” — a big step toward LGBTQ representation on screen.

LGBTQ fans excitedly shared scenes from the film that show Velma crushing on femme-aligned character Coco Diablo, a costume designer in the movie.

One scene in particular quickly went viral, according to Variety.

It depicts Velma first encountering Coco Diablo and getting starry-eyed while her observations pop up on screen, showing that she thinks Coco is “obviously brilliant,” has “incredible glasses,” an “amazing turtleneck,” and “loves animals,” Decider reported.

Other clips show Velma getting excited when someone from the gang suggests visiting Coco, and later getting flustered when Coco touches her shoulder and refers to her as “the cute one,” the outlet reported.

Velma’s crush confirmed what LGBTQ fans, and sapphic ones in particular, always knew about the character’s sexuality but never saw represented on screen, Variety reported. They couldn’t contain their excitement on social media Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Producers who worked on both the live-action movies and the animated “Mystery Incorporated” series explained that they always intended for the character to be lesbian, but were never able to make it happen on screen.

James Gunn, who wrote the live-action movies, tweeted in 2020 that he “tried” to make Velma a lesbian in the movies, but the Warner Bros. studio pushed back.

Warner Bros. did not respond to a request from McClatchy News for comment.

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

Tony Cervone, who produced the “Mystery Incorporated” series, tweeted the same year during Pride Month and explained that a sapphic Velma was also his intent, Variety reported.

“I’ve said this before, but Velma in ‘Mystery Incorporated’ is not bi. She’s gay,” he explained in the tweet, according to Variety. He explained how they made her character act “a little off” and “out of character” while she dated Shaggy “because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with why.”

He brought up Velma’s story arc with the character Marcie, explaining that his team made her sexual orientation as clear as they felt they could for the era. “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 that was our intention.”

He shared fan art of Velma and Marcie with a rainbow background and “Pride” written underneath them, and explained that he was one of the “key people” who represented the “Mystery Incorporated” version of Velma.

“We made our intentions as clear as we could ten years ago,” he wrote in the caption. “Most of our fans got it. To those that didn’t, I suggest you look closer. There’s no new news here.”