Mindy Kaling's new Velma television series: the character will be of East Asian descent and there's no Scooby-Doo or Mystery Machine

Speaking at the virtual TV Kids Summer Festival 2001, Warner Bros executive Tom Ascheim just revealed several details about the forthcoming Velma animated TV series starring Mindy Kaling:

"We have a not-for-children, Mindy Kaling project called Velma because she was excited to reimagine what Scooby-Doo would be like if Velma were of East Asian descent and lived in a different world. And in that version, which is going on HBO Max first, there's no dog and no van but we have our 4 key characters through a different lens and I think it's great. Allowing our creators to play with our IP is super powerful."

As Toonado points out, "The animated show won't actually be the first time Velma is portrayed by someone with Asian ancestry. Asian-American singer/actress Hayley Kiyoko portrayed the character in the 2009 and 2019 Cartoon Network live-action films, "Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins" and "Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster."

Uh, no Scooby?