Velma star Mindy Kaling faces hate comments on Twitter after the show fails to appease fans

Mindy Kaling, the star of the Scooby Doo spin-off animated series Velma, is reportedly facing backlash on Twitter from angry fans after the show failed to appease them.

Velma has received criticism from fans primarily due to the show's decision to race-swap three out of the four main fan-favorite characters. The show race-swapped Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, who were originally white.

In the animated version, Daphne is a lesbian Asian woman, Shaggy is a black man, and Velma is an Indian woman. However, Fred is the only character from the four main human characters who remains unchanged from his original depiction as a white man. Apart from this, fans also criticized the show for its predictable mysteries and unfunny humor.

Mindy Kaling, the voice actress for Velma, had already angered fans before the show even released with a rather hurtful comment. During the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation in New York City, Kaling said:

"Hopefully, you noticed my Velma is South Asian, if people freak out about that I don't care."

Needless to say, since then, Mindy Kaling has faced quite a lot of backlash for her comments and her portrayal of Velma now.

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Velma's Mindy Kaling faces backlash after show upsets fans.

Velma and Daphne (image via HBO Max)

Angry fans of Scooby Doo have taken to Twitter to bombard Mindy Kaling with hate comments for her take on the character and for ruining the show after it failed to please them.

The criticism against the show varied on two fronts. For one, Velma's South Asian depiction was seen as a perpetuation of the Asian nerd stereotype by some fans. Meanwhile, others hated the character's deviation from her White-American heritage.

One of Kaling's earlier comments during the WB Discovery Upfront presentation only fueled the fire of angry fans. She said that since no one really complained about a dog (Scooby Doo) solving mysteries, she didn't think they would be upset over a "brown Velma."

Following the show's release, Mindy Kaling took to Twitter to share how honored she was to be voicing Velma.

Several angry fans responded to Mindy Kaling's tweet and mocked her for ruining the show and their fan-favorite characters.

Mindy Kaling had earlier expressed her disappointment over the fan backlash during Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation. Kaling said that given how smart and great Velma was:

"I just couldn’t understand how people couldn’t imagine a really smart, nerdy girl with terrible eyesight who loved to solve mysteries could not be Indian,"

Even during her appearance on the Late Night with Seth Meyers show, The Mindy Project star told Meyers how she would have to be "careful" when discussing the character and the show. She told Meyers that people weren't happy and a lot of them said that she was "So not Velma" and that she wasn't the "classic Velma" they always had in their minds.

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Velma plot information and cast details

Velma (image via HBO Max)

Velma revolves around the titular character trying to solve the mystery of the murder of several local teenage girls and that of her own mother's disappearance. The show also details the origins and eventual formation of the Mystery Inc. group.

The synopsis of the show, according to HBO Max, reads:

"Velma is an adult animated comedy series telling the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. An original and humorous spin that unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers."

The main cast of the show is as follows:

• Mindy Kaling as Velma Dinkley
• Sam Richardson as Norville Rogers
• Constance Wu as Daphne Blake
• Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones

Other cast members of the show include Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Wanda Sykes, Jane Lynch, Gary Cole, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Ming Na-Wen, Shay Mitchell, Frank Welker and Ken Leung.