André 3000 and Cathy Moriarty Join Netflix’s Scooby-Doo: Origins as the Mystery Deepens

By Klep Napier | WeAreCritiX.com

Featured image: CritiX graphic over an official photo by Tom Griscom/Netflix featuring Mckenna Grace, Tanner Hagen, Abby Ryder Fortson and Maxwell Jenkins as the young Mystery Inc. team in Scooby-Doo: Origins.

André “3000” Benjamin and Cathy Moriarty are headed into one of pop culture’s oldest mysteries, and Netflix is not telling us who they are playing. Both performers have joined the live-action Scooby-Doo: Origins in recurring roles. Their characters remain under wraps, which means every camp counselor, suspicious local and possible masked villain is officially on notice.

It is an unexpected pairing in the best possible way. Benjamin brings the cool unpredictability of an artist who has never been interested in taking the obvious route, while Moriarty arrives with decades of screen presence that stretches from Raging Bull to Casper. Putting them inside a Scooby-Doo origin story immediately makes the supporting ensemble more interesting, even before a single character name has been revealed.

André 3000 Has Been Here Before

Benjamin’s casting also comes with a fun bit of franchise history. More than two decades before joining the series, Outkast contributed “Land of a Million Drums” with Killer Mike and Sleepy Brown to the soundtrack for the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo movie. Now André 3000 is returning to the world of Mystery Inc. as an actor, turning what could have been a random casting surprise into a genuinely full-circle moment.

Netflix has not offered a clue about whether Benjamin or Moriarty will be helping the young detectives, standing in their way or hiding behind a mask. That secrecy is doing exactly what it should. In a story built around a supernatural murder and a group of kids who do not yet know whom to trust, two undisclosed recurring roles feel less like background casting and more like part of the mystery.

A Young Mystery Inc. Is Taking Shape

The core team is already locked in. Mckenna Grace will play Daphne Blake, Tanner Hagen is Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, Abby Ryder Fortson takes on Velma Dinkley and Maxwell Jenkins steps into the role of Fred Jones. Rather than begin with the familiar gang already riding around in the Mystery Machine, the series will show the case that first pulls these four very different teenagers together.

Paul Walter Hauser is also part of the cast in an undisclosed role. The larger ensemble includes Rusty Schwimmer, Peter Macon, Maxwell Simkins, Jona Xiao, Dani Deetté, Elysée Sanvillé, Alex Isles, Avery Kristen Pohl, Pamela Mitchell, Ross Kimball, Sara Gilbert, Wynn Everett, Sauriyan Sapkota and Bruce McGill. Netflix is clearly surrounding its young leads with a deep bench, but the character details remain guarded enough to keep viewers guessing about who belongs on which side of the case.

The First Case Starts at Summer Camp

Scooby-Doo: Origins takes place during Shaggy and Daphne’s final summer at camp. The old friends become tangled in a haunting mystery involving a lonely, lost Great Dane puppy who may have witnessed a supernatural murder. Their search for answers brings them together with Velma, described as a pragmatic and scientific local, and Fred, the strange but ever-so-handsome new kid in town.

The case grows into a nightmare that threatens to expose each teen’s secrets, giving this version of Scooby-Doo a darker engine than a simple monster-of-the-week setup. The important part is still there, though. Four kids with completely different instincts have to learn how to work together, and somewhere along the way a frightened puppy becomes the heart of the team.

Scooby Is a Real Great Dane This Time

That puppy is also making franchise history. Netflix has confirmed that Scooby-Doo will be portrayed by a real Great Dane for the first time, bringing a physical canine performer into the center of a world that has traditionally relied on animation or digital creation for its most famous character. The official first look shows the young dog wearing Scooby’s familiar teal collar, and yes, he already looks ready to steal the show.

CritiX graphic over an official photo by Steve Dietl/Netflix of the real Great Dane portraying Scooby-Doo in Scooby-Doo: Origins.

Using a real dog does not answer every question. Netflix has not explained how Scooby’s voice, expressions or more cartoonish behavior will be handled, and that is probably the reveal fans will watch most closely. What we do know is that this will not be a fully digital Scooby dropped beside the actors. There is an actual Great Dane on set helping the gang solve the case.

Production Has Officially Wrapped in Atlanta

When Benjamin and Moriarty’s casting was first reported, Scooby-Doo: Origins was still filming in Atlanta. Netflix has since updated its official series coverage and confirmed that production wrapped in the city on September 13, 2026. That is the newly verified status, and it moves the series into the long stretch where editing, sound, visual effects and the rest of post-production can turn the first Mystery Inc. case into a finished show.

CritiX graphic over an official Netflix photo of Scooby-Doo behind the production slate on the Atlanta set of Scooby-Doo: Origins.

The wrap confirmation also matters because it replaces the older production language still attached to the original casting news. Cameras began rolling in Atlanta in April, and Netflix is now officially saying that part of the mystery is complete. There is still no exact premiere date, so the 2027 window remains the firmest timing the streamer has announced.

The Creative Team Behind the Mystery

Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg serve as showrunners, writers and executive producers through Midnight Radio. They are joined by executive producers André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Adrienne Erickson, along with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman through Berlanti Productions. Toby Haynes is also an executive producer and directs the premiere episode.

Warner Bros. Television is producing the series with Netflix, Berlanti Productions and Midnight Radio. That combination brings together the studio that has stewarded Scooby-Doo for generations with producers experienced in large-scale genre television. The biggest challenge will be balancing the darker supernatural-murder premise with the chemistry, humor and friendship that made Mystery Inc. last for more than fifty years.

Why These Two Castings Stand Out

André 3000 and Cathy Moriarty do not feel like names added simply to make a cast list longer. One carries a playful connection to the 2002 film and a career built on creative left turns. The other can move from hard-edged drama to heightened genre material without disappearing into either. Keeping both roles secret gives Scooby-Doo: Origins two more cards to play when Netflix finally starts showing audiences what this version actually looks and sounds like.

For now, the casting tells us that the series is willing to get strange, which is exactly what a Scooby-Doo story should be willing to do. A haunted summer camp, a possible supernatural murder, a real Great Dane and André 3000 sharing the same show is a sentence nobody had on their 2026 bingo card, but it certainly has our attention.

When and Where to Watch Scooby-Doo: Origins

Netflix has confirmed that Scooby-Doo: Origins will launch globally in 2027. The streamer has not announced a specific premiere date or month yet, so any narrower timing would be speculation.

When the first case is finally ready to be unmasked, audiences will be able to watch Scooby-Doo: Origins exclusively on Netflix in 2027.