Netflix says filming on Scooby-Doo: Origins is complete. The live-action series is scheduled to premiere in 2027, although the streamer has not announced an exact date.
Mckenna Grace stars as Daphne Blake, Tanner Hagen as Shaggy Rogers, Abby Ryder Fortson as Velma Dinkley and Maxwell Jenkins as Fred Jones. Rather than beginning with the four teenagers already functioning as the familiar mystery-solving team, the series is built around how that group comes together.
The first mystery starts with a lost Great Dane
Shaggy and Daphne are old friends spending their final summer at camp when they become involved in a disturbing mystery surrounding a lost Great Dane puppy. The dog may have witnessed a supernatural murder.
Velma enters the story as a pragmatic, science-minded local, while Fred is the strange new kid in town. Their investigation pulls all four teenagers into a larger nightmare that also threatens to expose their secrets.
That premise gives Origins room to treat the group's friendship as part of the story rather than a fact inherited from decades of Scooby-Doo cartoons.
This Scooby is an actual dog
The biggest departure is sitting right in the title. Scooby-Doo will be played by a real Great Dane, something Netflix says has never happened before in the franchise.
Previous live-action films used a digitally created Scooby alongside human actors. Origins instead puts a real puppy on set, complete with the familiar teal collar and SD tag.
It is a surprisingly substantial change for a character whose exaggerated movement, expressions and speech have always been part of the comedy. The first images lean heavily into the fact that this version of Scooby begins as a young dog rather than the fully formed cartoon personality audiences already know.
Mystery Inc. has plenty of company
The supporting cast includes Paul Walter Hauser, André Benjamin, Cathy Moriarty, Rusty Schwimmer, Peter Macon, Maxwell Simkins, Jona Xiao, Dani Deetté, Elysée Sanvillé, Alex Isles and Avery Kristen Pohl.
Pamela Mitchell, Ross Kimball, Sara Gilbert, Wynn Everett, Sauriyan Sapkota and Bruce McGill are also part of the ensemble. Netflix is still keeping many of those roles undisclosed.
The series comes from Midnight Radio and Berlanti Productions
Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg serve as writers, showrunners and executive producers. André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Adrienne Erickson also executive produce through Midnight Radio, with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman representing Berlanti Productions.
Toby Haynes directs the premiere and serves as an executive producer. Warner Bros. Television produces the series.
Netflix has only narrowed the release down to 2027 for now. The production itself, at least, is no longer a mystery.
