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Those meddling kids are at it again — and we’ve got some ideas as to who should hop inside the Mystery Machine.
Netflix announced this week that Scooby-Doo is getting the Riverdale treatment with an eight-episode live-action series that will offer an origin story for the mystery-solving teens.
Warner Bros. TV creators Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg, and executive producer Greg Berlanti are overseeing the series, which is said to be “a modern reimagining of the iconic mystery-solving group of teens and their very special dog.”
Mindy Kaling already gave the Scooby gang an origin story on Max’s animated Velma, but this take on the classic cartoon will offer a live-action imagining of the teens’ beginnings.
Hanna-Barbera/Everett Collection
According to a release, the new series will follow old friends Shaggy and Daphne enjoying their final summer at camp, when they find themselves embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely lost Great Dane puppy, who may have been the sole witness to a supernatural murder. They join forces with “pragmatic and scientific townie, Velma, and the strange, but ever so handsome new kid, Freddy” to solve the case — even as it threatens to expose their own closely held secrets.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? dates back to its 1969 beginnings as a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, and it’s had many iterations since, including a 2000s pair of live-action films starring Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, and Matthew Lillard.
Who should don the iconic ensembles of the Scooby gang in this new version? We share our ideas below. Let us know yours in the comments.
Who should play Scooby-Doo?
Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Hanna-Barbera/Courtesy Everett; Daniel Boczarski/Variety via Getty
We have a feeling the Great Dane himself will be computer-generated, but someone has to voice the snack-loving pup. Our pick would be Natasha Lyonne — her distinctive husky voice is perfect to give life to the doggy detective. Plus, she’s already got plenty of experience in the mystery genre thanks to Poker Face. Can’t you imagine her pulling off her sunglasses and saying Ruh-roh? If she’s not available, then we nominate I Think You Should Leave mastermind Tim Robinson for his doofy but lovably endearing comic persona.
Who should play Shaggy?
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Shaggy is technically the leader of the Scooby gang thanks to his guardianship of Scooby, but he’s also the most laid-back of the group. Probably because he’s highly stoner coded. Benjamin Norris made his name as extremely lovable slacker, Trent, on Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, and he already has Shaggy’s scruffy moptop haircut. Zoinks, he’s a perfect fit! Another option? Sleepy-eyed Fred Hechinger who’s perfected playing dopey (if unpredictable) guys amidst darker circumstances, including on season 1 of The White Lotus. Plus he bears a striking resemblance to the original cartoon.
Who should play Velma?
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Jinkies! The Scooby gang needs its brainiac (who also knows how to rock a mod pair of specs). Through the likes of Blockers and Miracle Workers, Geraldine Viswanathan has proved herself a comedic force to be reckoned with, often playing a nerd with a more rebellious side. She has strong Velma vibes, and we know she’d rock the sweater/glasses combo. If not her, then we’d opt for another nerd with a filthy side, Pauline Chalamet, who elevated that trope to an art form on The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Who should play Fred?
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Fred is the gang’s alpha male, often appointing himself the leader while not actually being all that helpful, at least not on purpose. As he’s proven in his current role as the very bro-y brother on White Lotus — not to mention his Kennedy family lineage — Patrick Schwarzenegger definitely has the chops to pull it off. A member of another scandalous TV brother duo, Cooper Koch of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, could also pull off Fred’s entitled white man with a hint of mystery to his motives. One thing both stars have in common is their willingness to bare all on television, so if Netflix’s Scooby decides to go TV-MA, neither would blush at being a full-frontal Fred. – Jillian Sederholm
Who should play Daphne?
Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty; Hanna-Barbera/Courtesy Everett; Vivien Killilea/Getty
Daphne is the glamour-puss of the gang, and as such, she needs to be played by an actress with plenty of sass and style. Given that she’s already a known entity in the Berlanti-verse and that she comes with piles of naturally gorgeous red hair, we think Riverdale’s Madelaine Petsch is an obvious choice for the group’s resident hottie. But there’s also Lovie Simone, whose turns on Greenleaf, Manhunt, and Power Book III: Raising Kanan, proved she’s a compelling (and stunning) force to be reckoned with.
Who should play Scrappy-Doo?
Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty; Hanna-Barbera/Courtesy Everett; Francois Durand/Getty
Robert Pattinson’s two most recent performances — Mickey 17‘s goofy procession of mild-mannered expendable space clones and The Boy and the Heron‘s grotesque, aggressive bird-man — have proven his ability to radically transform his voice. The latter character especially shows off his skill to sound so annoying that he borders on infuriating. If that doesn’t sound like Scrappy material, I don’t know what does. And if you want a more conventional pick, there’s nobody with a longer history of playing chaotic little trolls than Danny DeVito. – Wesley Stenzel
