Long before he was guarding the Guardians of the Galaxy and shepherding the Suicide Squad, James Gunn penned both live-action Scooby-Doo movies of the early ’00s. With those films now taking on a kind of mythic status on social media, and given Gunn’s sway in the industry these days, fans have long voiced their interest in the Mystery Inc. gang returning for a belated third film in the Scoob saga.
Well, crack open the Scooby snacks, folks, as Gunn seems confident that he could get a Scooby-Doo 3 greenlit if he wanted to… Although there’s a catch. It all started when journalist Brian Particelli took to Twitter to share his TooFab interview with Shaggy himself Matthew Lillard, in which the actor made clear that he’d love to team up with his old co-stars again. Freddie Prinze Jr., who played Fred Jones, then chimed in with his own thoughts. “Rightly or wrongly they don’t have the guts to make that movie,” Prinze opined.
Gunn then replied to Prinze’s cynical comment, admitting that he thinks that if he and the united cast pitched the idea to Warner Bros., they could make it a reality. But the filmmaker stressed that he’s way too busy to think seriously about it right now.
“I think they’d do it if we asked,” Gunn said. “I just don’t think I have the time right now!”
While fans obviously shouldn’t take this as an indication that Gunn’s drawing up a pitch document right now, it’s encouraging that he’s open to the idea of doing another Scooby-Doo and thinks the studio would be interested in the concept. Gunn has previously revealed his plans for a third film that was cancelled at the time, which would’ve flipped the script and seen the team have to protect innocent monsters from evil humans. He’s also told us that Linda Cardellini’s Velma was supposed to be openly gay.
While we wait to see if Scooby-Doo 3 could happen 20 years later, the Scoobyverse continues with HBO Max’s upcoming adult-oriented series Velma, helmed by and starring Mindy Kaling.