While a background artist on Velmas The recent Halloween special may have revealed a little early news about the surreal animated series’ cancellation, but MAX has made it official. Streaming service Warner Bros. has confirmed that Velma Dinkley and the wild new version of Mystery Incorporated will not be returning for a third season. Parallel to the cancellation announcement, the WB took the opportunity to comment on the series, which apparently will never have a third season. Given the controversy surrounding the series, fan reaction to the news of the cancellation was pretty consistent among animation fans.

Velma first premiered exclusively on MAX in 2023 and introduces the Scooby-Doo characters in a far more “adult” light than the original version of the puzzle solvers. Because Mystery Incorporated’s story was infused with some crass humor, many fans couldn’t relate to the animated series, which traded the vast majority of masked villains for high school angst. In the first two seasons, Scooby-Doo himself never appeared, although the groundwork for the Great Dane’s appearance was certainly just being laid. The second season introduced a villainous version of Scrappy-Doo that was very different from the minor mascot from the franchise’s past. Needless to say, it doesn’t look like the series will ever get the chance to explore a new version of Scoob.

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It’s official

In the official MAX statement, the streaming service praised Velma, Mindy Kaling, Charlie Grandy and the other creators who brought the two-season series to life: “Mindy (Kaling) and Charlie (Grandy) have it in the last Both seasons have created an incredibly entertaining and fresh world within the legendary crime franchise. While we won’t be continuing with another season of the series, we thank them for their compelling coming-of-age story, their unmatched clues and their hilarious banter.”

At the time of writing this article it was not yet known whether Velma will attempt to revive on another streaming service. It is certainly known that MAX has moved some major television projects to other platforms. Perhaps most notably, Batman: Caped Crusader was originally a MAX exclusive that was purchased by Amazon Video, giving the Dark Knight a new streaming home for his latest adventure. Considering how the recent special ended, perhaps the makers will walk away from the controversial series altogether.

Velma: What Season 3 Could Have Been

Velma: This Halloween has to be special will seemingly serve as the series finale for the controversial series. While the recent special wraps up many storylines, such as Velma Dinkley’s return from the grave, there is one dangling storyline that never seems to be addressed. Fred Jones, voiced here by It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton, is obsessed with a magical book that helps him bring Velma back, but comes at a terrible price.

As previously mentioned, Scooby-Doo was built through a subplot called Project Scoob. In the failed government experiment, the initiative involved removing victims’ brains and sometimes putting them into new bodies. While we’ll never know, it’s a safe bet that this subplot would have been the springboard for Scooby-Doo to appear in Velma, although he most likely had a very different personality than the Scoob of previous series in the franchise.

Want to see if this is actually the final nail in the coffin for Velma? Follow Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the surreal animated series, and contact me directly at EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

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