Netflix dropped casting news on March 18, and yes, Mystery Inc. is assembling again. The streamer confirmed the actors who will play the core quartet in its new live-action reimagining of Scooby-Doo.

Who’s playing who

The main cast announced includes:

  • Mckenna Grace as Daphne Blake
  • Maxwell Jenkins as Fred Jones
  • Abby Ryder Fortson as Velma Dinkley
  • Tanner Hagen as Shaggy Rogers

All four posted reactions on social media. Tanner wrote, "ZOINKS! Like... is this even life?" and thanked everyone who helped him land Shaggy. Mckenna shared an excited "JEEPERSSSS I’m so excited" on her Instagram Stories. Maxwell said he was "so grateful for the opportunity."

What Netflix says the series is

Netflix calls the show a "modern reimagining" and the first live-action take on the cartoon since the 2004 movie Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed. That 2004 film starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Linda Cardellini, and Matthew Lillard.

The new series will show how the teens first came together. According to the press description, it follows old friends Shaggy and Daphne during their final summer at camp. They get dragged into a spooky mystery involving a lonely lost Great Dane puppy that may have witnessed a supernatural murder. Velma is described as the pragmatic, scientific townie, and the group also gets help from a strange but attractive new kid named Freddy. The case pulls each teen into a nightmare that could expose their secrets.

Behind the scenes notes from the 2002 live-action movie

Before the Netflix series, there was the early 2000s live-action movie era. Here are key production notes and decisions from that time.

  • Plans for a live-action Scooby-Doo began as early as 1994. Several directors and actors were attached over the years, and Raja Gosnell ultimately signed on in October 2000.
  • Writer James Gunn penned the script. At one point it was effectively R-rated, but Gosnell said the team realized an R-rated Scooby-Doo would not work and the script was adjusted.
  • The creative goal shifted toward a PG-13 parody that winked at the original cartoon, with self-aware jokes and references to Scooby lore.
  • Early drafts contained more adult-oriented jokes, including hints about Velma's sexuality and more drug references. These elements were removed after studio input and test screenings with conservative parents.
  • Mentions of the word "soul" were removed after pushback from religious viewers. The filmmakers replaced those references with the term "protoplasm."
  • A planned kiss between Daphne and Velma was cut by the studio and did not appear in the final film.
  • Raja Gosnell described his principal cast as his dream choices: Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Linda Cardellini as Velma, and Matthew Lillard as Shaggy.
  • To get Shaggy's vocal energy, Matthew Lillard reportedly had to do intense vocal warm-ups, including long screams each morning during filming.
  • The decision to cast Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who became a real-life couple, was not engineered by the filmmakers but was embraced because audiences already linked the characters.
  • For Fred's look, Prinze dyed his hair blonde and altered his eyebrows to match the character. For the sequel, he opted for a shaved head with a wig rather than repeating the dye process.
  • Isla Fisher was cast as Mary Jane, Shaggy's love interest. The character name was changed to play into a tongue-in-cheek reference, and Fisher wore a blonde wig to avoid overlapping too much with Daphne's visual space.
  • Scenes with the CGI Scooby were filmed using large stuffed animals or props so actors had something to react to. The animators and Matthew Lillard's acting together made Scooby feel real on screen.
  • Neil Fanning provided Scooby's voice during rehearsals and ended up voicing the character in the finished movie.
  • The filmmakers made the controversial choice to make Scrappy-Doo the villain. That split fans, since opinions about Scrappy vary by which era of the cartoon people watched.
  • Mark McGrath and his band Sugar Ray appear as a possessed band in the film. Having a contemporary band on the soundtrack was a common studio move at the time.
  • Pamela Anderson makes a cameo as herself early in the movie, a nod to the show’s tradition of surprise celebrity appearances.
  • There were plans for a third film, but the studio stepped back when the second movie did not earn as much as the first. The director said he would have made another installment if given the chance.
  • Gosnell said he understands the studio’s decisions to reshape the film for a broader audience since the Scooby brand appears on many consumer products and the studio wanted to protect that image.

The Netflix series is positioning itself as an origin story with a darker, modern twist but still aimed at the family audience that knows Scooby from backpacks and breakfast cereal. Fans will now wait to see how this new cast and approach balance nostalgia with a fresh take.