Matthew Lillard’s Scooby-Doo Franchise Return Gets Exciting Update

Matthew Lillard gives an exciting update on his return to the Scooby-Doo franchise. Lillard first played Shaggy in the early 2000s live-action theatrical releases, Scooby-Doo and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, alongside Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, and Frank Welker. He even took over the role from longtime voice actor Casey Kasem in a variety of direct-to-DVD movies and TV shows, though was briefly recast by Will Forte for the 2020 animated reboot movie, Scoob!.

Now, however, speaking with Toonado, Lillard shares an exciting update about his return to the Scooby-Doo franchise. Lillard confirms he has a new project coming up with Scooby-Doo, and teases what it entails. Read his update below:

I’m really excited about [Scooby-Doo]. I can’t really talk about it yet, but there’s a new project I’m associated with that will allow kids to put themselves into a Scooby-Doo adventure. That’s super fun. For me, that’s my day job. It’s my bread and butter.

What’s Next For The Scooby-Doo Franchise?

There have been countless iterations of Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo since its inception in 1969, but the franchise’s fate is up in the air now. One of the most recent releases for the franchise,Scoob!, was an animated reboot of the original live-action movies. Despite featuring an all-star cast including Mark Wahlberg, Gina Rodriguez, Zac Efron, and Amanda Seyfried, it failed to achieve the same success as its predecessors. A sequel, Scoob! A Holiday Haunt was completed, but eventually scrapped by David Zaslav before release, despite being finished.

In 2023, Max premiered its divisive animated adult spin-off show, Velma starring Mindy Kailing. Despite receiving a largely negative response from fans, season 2 is in development and slated to premiere in 2024. Lillard was also supposed to return as Shaggy alongside Frank Welker as Scooby in Max’s Scooby-Doo And The Mystery Pups. The Max and Cartoon Network title was aimed at preschool-aged children, and planned to premiere in the summer of 2024, but ultimately fell victim to WBD’s sweeping cancelations.

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However, it seems the new Scooby-Doo project Lillard is working on now will entail a similar premise, with Lillard revealing the goal is to have kids to immerse themselves in a Mystery Inc. adventure, alongside the crew. An immersive experience would be new to the world of Scooby-Doo, and bringing back Lillard could draw audiences in. Either way, the new project will have to survive the ruthless age of streaming, but hopefully, it won’t fall victim to a premature cancellation as its predecessors.

Source: Toonado