It was recently announced that Hanna-Barbera, the studio known for their classic cartoon series, was launching into the movie business, planning out their own shared cinematic universe. The project that will be kicking this off is their ‘Scooby-Doo’ film, which has been titled ’S.C.O.O.B’. And while it’s hard to say exactly what this movie will look like, based off the gritty, realistic, more mature reboot we’ve been seeing these days, the film will likely look a little something like this.
Our world is not just ours. While humans have remained the dominant species on the planet, supernatural creatures have begun to rise up and strike back. Humans now have to contest with various evil spirits. A cult known as the House of Mystery has begun calling upon said spirits to inhabit their bodies, as they want to harness their evil powers and take over the world. The government needs a unit to help combat the supernatural – they need the “S.C.O.O.B.” Initiative.
S.C.O.O.B. (Squadron for the Combating Of Occult Beings) is a secretive supernatural task force, formed in secret, without anyone knowing aside from essential personnel. S.C.O.O.B. takes in four twenty-something operatives, based upon prior experiences dealing with the supernatural. Fred Jones is a soldier who was adopted & raised by General Edward Jones, the man who heads S.C.O.O.B. Daphne Blake is a rich heiress, with parents who are experienced vampire slayers of olden times. Velma Dinkley is a genius and supernatural researcher, who uses her knowledge of the creepy creatures to make traps & weapons to kill them.
The protagonist of the film is Shaggy Rogers, a young stoner who has had no real experience fighting evil. But a couple years earlier, while Shaggy was in high school, he was smoking weed with his friend Dewey in a secluded shack on the Blake Family estate. They set the shack on fire, and Dewey pushes Shaggy out to save him, dying in the process. Heartbroken, Shaggy starts crying into the pages of an ancient tome the two had found and were making fun of. As it turns out, it was an occult book that channels Dewey’s spirit into the nearest available vessel – the groundskeeper’s great dane. Shaggy has raised Dewey as his pet-slash-friend every since.
When the five are assembled, they go through group training. Insert montage of the three main kids kicking ass, while every single training tool manages to put the beat-down on both Shaggy and Scooby (the moniker coined by Fred, sarcastically suggesting Scooby is nothing more than their mascot). While Fred, Daphne, and Velma are all capable, Shaggy and Scooby hang off more to the side, which makes it hard for them to fight as a unit. Despite General Jones’ insistence they fight as a team, no one is willing to compromise. Daphne sees the others as unworthy, Velma sees the others as idiots, and Fred sees the others as petulant teenagers. Shaggy knows he doesn’t belong, and wants to leave, but Scooby insists that they stay, hoping that they could potentially find a way to get Dewey his human body back.
One night, the army base is attacked by a robot-ghost-hybrid creature (Spooky Space Kook). The three main kids go after him, but he’s too strong for them to take on. However, while they’re struggling, Shaggy & Scooby come up with a plan – they lure it into the training room, where they use the same machines that beat them up in the montage to beat up the monster. Realizing their plan, Fred, Daphne, & Velma lend their own combat prowess to use the machines as a distraction to mask their own attacks. Shaggy takes a cattle-prod to the monster, causing him to short circuit.
The monster turns out to be Sargent Henry Bascombe – Fred’s best friend, and the only soldier who was kind to Shaggy. Henry tells them that the House of Mystery is just as interested in Shaggy’s potential medium skills as S.C.O.O.B. was. Knowing how important Shaggy and Scooby are, the others promise to help the two along in their combat training. Velma especially begins to help Shaggy and Scooby in their research to find a way to bring Scooby’s human body back. The gang begins going out on real missions, taking down progressively bigger & badder monsters.
After sustaining too many losses from the S.C.O.O.B gang, the House of Mystery makes their big play – they kill Daphne’s parents, and take over their estate. The House of Mystery plans to use the supernatural energy at the mansion, turning it into a portal to summon more horrors into the real world. Velma believes that, if Shaggy can interface with the same book at the estate he cried into with Scooby, he can not only close the portal to the spirit world, but possibly bring back Scooby’s human body. Before they can piece together a concrete plan, the House of Mystery leader – Sir Harry Kingston (Ghost Clown) – spirits into the base, kills General Jones, and warns the S.C.O.O.B-ies against meddling with the House’s operations.
Without the General’s guidance, and with both Fred & Daphne’s parents killed, the gang is unstable and unsure of what to do next. That said, they know they have to go in and do whatever they can to stop the House of Mystery. They go to the mansion, and get split up almost instantly. Shaggy & Scooby fight a nightmare version of the groundskeeper (Miner 49er), where Scooby realizes he can stand on two legs & fight like a human. Fred & Daphne fight off nightmare-ghost copies of her now dead parents (Phantom Shadows). Velma is temporarily blinded by Wax Phantom’s goo, but she uses her underutilized strength & skill to take out Wax Phantom and Creeper all by herself.
The five finally make it up to the top floor of the mansion, facing off with Kingston. Unfortunately, they are not strong enough to defeat him, and Shaggy get captured. Kingston tells them the only way he’ll let them live is if they give up Scooby. Shaggy doesn’t want to let that happen, but Scooby agrees. As Scooby steps into the portal, he turns around and kicks the tome over to the now-released Shaggy. Velma helps Shaggy translate the passage about dispersing evil spirits while Scooby keeps Kingston from interfering. Shaggy completes the spell, causing Scooby, Kingston, and all the evil creatures to disappear. The gang is thrown out of the mansion by a big ol’ burst of magic, as the mansion catches on fire.
While everyone is happy the evil is gone, the gang searches the mansion, trying to find Scooby. Shaggy is in tears, crying out “Scooby-Doo! Where are you?” Scooby climbs out through the mansion rubble, revealing himself to be alive, but still a dog. Scooby says that he could’ve gotten his human form back & pass into Heaven, but he wasn’t ready to say goodbye and leave his close friends. While the governmental program is shut down, the gang decides they have to keep operating, in case any more supernatural powers arise.
STARRING
Blake Anderson as Shaggy
Scott Eastwood as Fred
Deborah Ann Woll as Daphne
Mae Whitman (her?) as Velma
Ice Cube as General Edward Jones
Michael Fassbender as Sir Harry Kingston
and
Seth Rogen as the voice of Scooby Doo
