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Velma was “explicitly gay” in original script for live action Scooby Doo movie

Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred and Linda Cardellini as Velma in the trailer for "Scooby Doo."
Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred and Linda Cardellini as Velma in the trailer for "Scooby Doo." Photo: Screenshot/YouTube

The writer behind the 2002 Scooby-Doo film said that he tried to make the character Velma Dinkley a lesbian, but the studio rejected it and made her straight.

Screenplay writer James Gunn tweeted the Velma was “explicitly gay” in the script he wrote.

Related: Russia bans kids from ‘Power Rangers’ after headlines about lesbian character

“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),” he wrote.

The 2001 film takes place several years after the cartoons. The gang has broken up and pursued careers and love interests separately, and Shaggy even has a girlfriend in the film.

The first cut of the film, according to Gunn, was rated R. Velma and Daphne even had a kiss in the first cut of the film.

“I had written an edgier film geared toward older kids and adults, and the studio ended pushing it into a clean-cut children’s film,” he said in a 2017 interview. “And, yes, the rumors are true: the first cut was rated R by the MPAA, and the female stars’ cleavage was CGI’d away so as not to offend.”

Last month, the creator of the 2010 animated series Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated Tony Cervone posted a Pride picture of Velma with the character Marcie Fleach.

“I’ve said this before, but Velma in Mystery Incorporated is not bi,” wrote Cervone in response to a fan. “She’s gay.”

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