“An edgier film geared toward older kids”: Lost R-Rated Version of $275M Movie WB CGI-ed for Too Much Cleavage Is James Gunn’s Version of the Snyder Cut

As of 2025, one of the most expensive filmmakers working in Hollywood right now happens to be James Gunn. The chief of the DC Studios has the responsibility of lifting an entire franchise off the ground and the failure to do so could lead to his exile from the industry for good. However, before Gunn became the bearer of the DCU, he crafted films like Scooby-Doo, that laid down the grounds for his eventual ascension to a lofty post at Warner Bros.

Scooby-Doo [Credit: Warner Bros.]

The Scooby-Doo franchise has been an essential part and parcel of every kid from the 70s to the present day. The animated cartoon series was loved and adored by the children growing up in a post-World War generation, defined by traces of horror from a bygone era. With a healthy blend of the supernatural and the cynical, Scooby-Doo left an indelible impression on audiences all over the world and continues to do so to this day with its unfailing creativity.

The rocky start of Scooby-Doo in James Gunn’s vision

Scooby-Doo [Credit: Warner Bros.]

For a director as eccentric and creative as James Gunn, a film as canonically iconic and irreverent as Scooby-Doo was a perfect jump-off point to leave an impression in the industry. Considering Gunn’s skills with caricaturish characters and bizarre storylines, not only did the film do well at the box office but was received resoundingly well by audiences of every age group, too.

However, the theatrical cut of the 2002 Scooby-Doo film was not molded entirely in accordance with James Gunn’s vision. Decades later, the director revealed how his original script was meant to be more inclusive, adult-friendly, raunchier, and more explicit than what was shown in the family film.

In a 2017 Facebook post, Gunn revealed that a few aspects of his film were so over-the-top that the MPAA was forced to color the film with an R-rating before making the director censor and edit out parts of Scooby-Doo to make it more PG-friendly for the kids.

James Gunn’s Scooby-Doo film was definitely edgy

Scooby-Doo [Credit: Warner Bros.]

Often, studios end up censoring too much of a film to ruin a director’s entire artistic vision. Projects like Justice League and The Witcher have suffered because of interference from the studio or the producers’ part. However, the era of public court and Cancel Culture has made it infinitely more difficult for execs to get away with their prying and censorship these days.

As such, it was 15 years before James Gunn would feel comfortable enough to open up about his Scooby-Doo film made in 2002. At the time, the audience was more than elated and awed by the live-action movie of the evergreen and adored cartoon. However, in hindsight, Gunn’s original (scrapped) vision for the film would have been radically revolutionary in the early Noughties.

As revealed in the 2017 Facebook post (via No But Listen), Gunn said:

In his scrapped R-rated version of Scooby-Doo, Velma is openly gay, Daphne is bisexual, both characters share an on-screen kiss, Shaggy’s stoner identity is canonically established as he is shown smoking weed on-screen, Velma dances in a bikini after getting possessed, and the female characters show a little too much cleavage for Warner Bros.’ liking.

Although the Scooby-Doo film fundamentally retained all of its wonderful aspects that made the franchise so iconic through the past half-century, James Gunn’s vision was so radically out of left field that the studio felt it was better to tone it down for a wider audience, thus making it PG-13.

Scooby-Doo is available to stream on Max.