Netflix officially revealed the cast for its untitled live-action "Scooby-Doo" project March 18.
Prior to the announcement, Mckenna Grace was announced to be playing the role of Daphne Blake. If fans do not recognize Grace’s name, they will likely recognize her face. At just 19 years old, Grace has 83 acting credits on IMDB and has appeared in many big franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Scream" and "Ghostbusters" just to name a few.
This November, Grace will add "The Hunger Games" franchise to her list as she plays the role of Maysilee Donner in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.” Grace has shared her excitement about the role of Daphne Blake online by sharing pictures of herself dressed as the character for Halloween multiple times. This actually will not be Grace’s first time playing Blake, as she was the voice of the young version of the character in the 2020 movie “Scoob.”
Maxwell Jenkins will be playing the role of quartet leader Fred Jones. Jenkins is best known for playing Will Robinson in Netflix’s reboot of “Lost in Space,” which ran from 2018 to 2021. Fans may also recognize him as young Jack Reacher in “Reacher” or as Cade in “The Bondsman.” Jenkins prefers to do his own stunts as he has acrobatic training as a result of his parents running a theatrical circus company called “Midnight Circus.”
Brainiac Velma Dinkley will be played by Abby Ryder Fortson. Grace is not the only member of the cast who has spent time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fortson played young Cassie Lang in both “Ant-Man” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” before Emma Fuhrmann took over the role in “Avengers: Endgame.” The role was later recast for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” with Kathryn Newton taking over the mantle.
Fortson also played the starring role of Margaret Simon in the 2023 film “Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.” Forsten appeared in four episodes of season one of “The Pitt” as pregnant teenager Kristi Wheeler.
Tanner Hagen is Norville “Shaggy” Rogers. Hagen also appeared in season one of “The Pitt” as patient Travis Johnson. He may also be recognizable for the various episodes he did with Dhar Mann, who runs a studio making short TV-style videos with narratives on moral lessons.
On March 24, it was announced that Paul Walter Hauser is also set to star in the show. However, the details of his character are being kept secret. Audiences may recognize Hauser from “Cobra Kai” as the character Raymond "Stingray" Porter. One of Hauser’s other recent popular roles is Harvey Elder, possibly better known as the Mole Man in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
According to a statement from Netflix, the show will be an origin story focused on how the Mystery Inc. gang first formed. Rogers and Blake will get caught up in a mystery revolving around “a lonely lost Great Dane puppy” who possibly witnessed a supernatural murder during the teens’ final summer of camp. The two will have to team up with Dinkley and the new kid, Jones, to figure out what is going on and possibly have all their own secrets threatened to be exposed in the process.
"Scooby-Doo" has 42 animated movies, 13 animated shows --- not counting Velma’s controversial spin-off starring Mindy Kaling --- 2 live action theatrical releases, a few live action straight-to-DVD films and a spin-off film, “Daphne & Velma” (2018).
The gang has had crossovers with “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “Supernatural," “Johnny Bravo" and even the legendary rock band “KISS.”
Despite all this, there has never been a live-action "Scooby-Doo" television show. There is no release date yet, but the show is expected to have eight episodes.
