Mystery Inc. will soon have a new address: Netflix. The streaming service is making the first live-action television series for Scooby-Doo, focusing on how the famous group of friends first met. The series will show the “haunting case that started it all” for the teenage detectives and their talking dog. Netflix officially confirmed the new show in March 2025. After the announcement, more details have come out about the story, the team making it, and when filming will start.
The Plot: An Origin Story at Summer Camp
This new version of Scooby-Doo is a modern reimagining that acts as a full origin story. Unlike other versions where the group are already friends, this series shows how they meet and form their detective team during one scary summer.
The official story description from Netflix says the adventure starts “during their final summer at camp”. Old friends Shaggy Rogers and Daphne Blake find themselves in the middle of a strange mystery. It involves a lonely, lost Great Dane puppy that might have seen a supernatural murder.
To solve the case, they team up with two other teenagers. One is the “pragmatic and scientific townie,” Velma Dinkley. The other is a “strange, but ever so handsome new kid” named Freddy Jones. The four teenagers and the dog work together on a case that creates a “creepy nightmare” and could reveal secrets they all want to keep hidden.
Reports say the summer camp where this all happens is called Camp Ruby-Spears. This name is a clear reference to Ruby-Spears Productions, the animation company that worked on Scooby-Doo cartoons in the 1980s. The first episode of the series is reportedly just titled “Scooby-Doo“.
“Josh and Scott and everyone at Midnight Radio have crafted a story that captures their amazing spirits and their genius creation,” said executive producer Greg Berlanti, recalling his early career meetings with Hanna-Barbera founders Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
A New Creative Team and a Different Tone
The series comes from a partnership between Warner Bros. Television and Netflix. The creative team includes writers and producers known for big adventure stories.
The showrunners, writers, and executive producers are Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg. They run the production company Midnight Radio. This company was also behind Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation and the MGM+ series From. Other executive producers from Midnight Radio include André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner.
Another major producer on the project is Greg Berlanti, through Berlanti Productions. Berlanti is famous for creating many popular superhero TV shows like Arrow and The Flash, as well as series like Riverdale and You. Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman are also executive producers from Berlanti Productions.
The team has suggested this series will have a different feel from the live-action Scooby-Doo movies from the early 2000s. Those films, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard, were known for their comedy. Sources say the new Netflix show is “aiming for a Stranger Things tone”. This means it could mix real suspense and mystery with the bright, fun style of the original cartoons. The show will still have “lots of pop culture references” but aims to feel more grounded.
Casting the Teenage Mystery Solvers
A major question for fans is: who will play Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy? Official casting announcements have not been made yet. However, reports give clues about what the producers are looking for.
Unlike the movies from the 2000s that cast actors in their mid-to-late twenties, the Netflix series is looking for younger actors. The plan is to cast “age-appropriate” actors to play the teenage characters. Reports say the production is interested in actors aged 14 to 17. This fits the story, which is set during the characters’ “final summer at camp,” placing them in their high school years.
While the human cast is still a mystery, one iconic voice is strongly rumored to return. Multiple reports say Frank Welker is set to voice Scooby-Doo. Welker is a legend in the franchise. He originally voiced the character Fred in the 1969 cartoon and first provided the voice for Scooby-Doo in the 2002 live-action film. He has been the main voice of Scooby for many years in animated projects.
An IMDb page for the series also lists actor Matthew Lillard, but only for a single episode. Lillard famously played Shaggy in the 2002 and 2004 live-action films. It is not clear if this listing means he will have a special cameo role in the new series.
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Production Schedule and Release Date
The series was first reported to be in development in April 2024. Netflix then officially announced it in March 2025. Since the announcement, the next major step is the start of filming.
Recent reports state that filming for the eight-episode series is scheduled to begin in April 2026. Production will happen in Atlanta, Georgia, and is expected to last through the second quarter of 2026 (April to June). Showrunner Scott Rosenberg hinted at this location in a December 2025 Instagram post, saying he and Josh Appelbaum were “on a scout this week in Atlanta for a new show we will be shooting here soon”.
Because filming is planned for 2026, viewers will have to wait a while to see the finished show. A release on Netflix is not expected until 2027 at the earliest.
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