Greg Berlanti is trading in his CW superhero capes for a magnifying glass and a talking dog. Netflix has greenlit an eight-episode, live-action reboot of Scooby-Doo, marking the first time Mystery Inc. gets the flesh-and-blood treatment on the small screen. Yes, that includes a real-life Shaggy, a possibly haunted Great Dane, and hopefully, enough fog machines to bankrupt Spirit Halloween.
The project is billed as a “modern reimagining” of the classic cartoon and will be helmed by Citadel‘s Josh Appelbaum and Venom‘s Scott Rosenberg. The plot throws it back to a very Gen Z origin story: during their final summer at camp, Shaggy and Daphne are pulled into a supernatural murder mystery after encountering a lonely Great Dane puppy. Velma is reimagined as a pragmatic, science-loving townie, and Freddy? He’s the strange but ever so handsome new kid. Expect secrets. Expect nightmares. Expect Scooby-Doo to be weirdly hot now.
In a statement that sounds like it was pulled straight from a Berlanti origin montage, the prolific producer said: “One of my first and favorite jobs in Hollywood was sitting with Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera while they signed animation cells.” Meanwhile, Netflix‘s Peter Friedlander made it clear this isn’t just another nostalgia bait project: “Together with creative powerhouses Berlanti Productions and Midnight Radio, we’re committed to delighting longtime fans and opening up a world of groovy adventures for a new era of meddling kids.” Groovy, indeed.
As of now, there’s no cast attached, but whoever steps into the mystery machine will have some big shoes (and ascots) to fill. The 2002 live-action movie gave us the forever iconic team of Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, and Neil Fanning as the voice of Scooby. Good luck topping that.
It’s been a wild few years for the Scooby-Doo extended universe. Mindy Kaling’s Velma series on Max got canceled before it could solve the mystery of its own existence. Scoob! Holiday Haunt got the axe before it even hit streaming. But maybe this time, with Berlanti at the helm and Netflix footing the bill, the gang will finally unmask the culprit behind all these doomed reboots.
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