Following its debut in January, HBO Max's animated series Velma has received scathing reviews from critics and audiences alike with a 41% critics approval rating and a 7% audience approval rating. In spite of this, the streaming platform has renewed the show for a second season.
Warner Bros. Television Group CEO, Channing Dungey, announced this update in an interview with Deadline, where she also revealed that the new season has begun development. Her announcement confirms that earlier reports of Velma's renewal based on its Entertainment Identifiers Registry (EIDR) listing is true. In January, the company added 11 episodes of a second Velma season to the EIDR website which indicated its intention to produce a second season of the highly controversial show.
Velma's criticisms, many of which are not genuine, stem from a few tweaks made to the show, especially the changes made to the origins of the different characters. For many fans, the show's portrayal of Velma as a bisexual South Asian-American woman is especially distasteful. Other fans also claim that the show was too far removed from the main franchise that it didn't give any hit of nostalgia.
Despite its disappointing critical performance, the 10-episode animated series earned a successful commercial outing on the streaming platform. It currently holds the record for the biggest premiere for an HBO Max animated original show and is also the platform's most-watched animated original show.