Mindy Kaling set to star Scooby Doo’s Velma Dinkley in upcoming Velma animated series for HBO Max

Mindy Kaling has already worked hard on the highly anticipated third installment of Legally Blonde.

But the 41-year-old actor has added another project to her plate as she prepares to star Scooby Doo’s Velma Dinkley in an upcoming adult animated series for HBO Max.

The standalone series, titled Velma, will serve as the “ origin story ” for the designated mastermind of the Mystery Inc. gang, according to Variety.

In addition to voicing the series’ main character, Kaling will also be producing Velma, alongside Charlie Grandy, Howard Klein, and Sam Register.

Velma has received an order for 10 episodes through HBO Max, but the official release date for the animated series has yet to be revealed.

Since its first airing in 1969, the Scooby Doo franchise has produced countless animated series, as well as several live iterations.

“ It is a tremendous privilege to build on this company’s over 100-year legacy of anime, ” said HBO Executive Vice President of Original Comedy and Adult Animation Max, Suzanna Makkos, as the network announced its expansion into adult animation on Wednesday.

HBO Max subscribers will also get a reboot of Clone High, which has received an optimistic two-season order from the streaming platform, while also picking up the all-new Fired on Mars series featuring Pete’s vocal talents. Davidson from SNL.

Kaling, best known for her on-camera work on NBC’s The Office, also wrote the screenplay for Legally Blonde 3 with fellow actress and friend Reese Witherspoon.

The Ocean’s 8 star said in a recent interview with Access Hollywood that it was “ really fun to imagine ” Witherspoon’s iconic character Elle Woods at 40.

“I love the franchise so much. I love Elle Woods as a character. And when Reese [Witherspoon] asked me if I wanted to write it, I said to myself: “Absolutely!” Kaling remembers.

“I can’t wait to see what people think of the way we wrote Elle Woods at 40. How Elle Woods is 40 versus 21 was really fun to imagine.

Plans for Legally Blonde 3 were confirmed last May, with Kaling and Parks and Recreation writer Dan Goor signing on to write a new screenplay for the beloved comedy.

Teasing the project, Mindy told TODAY in October that tackling a Legally Blonde script was a “ really intimidating ” task for her “ because it’s such an iconic movie. ”

She added that “ what made him the most attractive was the fact that [Elle is] now 20 years older.

So what does the 42-year-old version of Elle Woods look like? Like how is she? Is she also a shredder? Did life really bring her down? Has she become cynical at all? Or is it exactly the same?

“ For me, I thought making her that age and going through her the same kinds of things that I went through at 40, was fun. ”

The first Legally Blonde movie hit theaters in July 2001, with a sequel titled Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde premiered in 2003.