Maxwell Jenkins is about to become a household name.
The actor best known as Will Robinson in Netflix’s Lost in Space has reportedly been cast as Fred Jones in Netflix’s upcoming live-action Scooby-Doo series, according to a report from Jeff Sneider.
Fred Jones has been a fixture of American television since 1969. For Jenkins, this is the role that changes everything.
Netflix has not formally confirmed the casting. But if the report holds, Jenkins is stepping into one of pop culture’s most recognizable characters for what is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated streaming projects in years.
Who Is Maxwell Jenkins?
Lost in Space ran three seasons on Netflix, and Jenkins carried it. As Will Robinson, the youngest son of the Robinson family, whose bond with the show’s robot became its emotional core.
That is not nothing for a child actor.
He has since grown up, which matters. The last Lost in Space audience saw a kid. Jenkins is now 18, and physically and chronologically right in the range for a young live-action Fred Jones, described in the official logline as “the strange, but ever so handsome new kid.”
Since Lost in Space he has been building range deliberately. He played a younger version of Alan Ritchson’s title character in Prime Video’s Reacher.
He starred in Apple TV+’s Dear Edward. He appeared in the horror film Arcadian. Each project pushed him somewhere new. Fred Jones is the largest stage he has been offered.
The Cast Forming Around Jenkins
Mckenna Grace was confirmed as Daphne Blake in February.
At 19 she has Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Captain Marvel, I, Tonya, and upcoming roles in Scream 7 and The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping on her résumé.
She also voiced young Daphne in the 2020 animated Scoob!, making this a live-action graduation for her too. When she announced the casting on Instagram she wrote: “Oh my jeepers. I can’t believe life is real.”
Frank Welker, who has voiced Fred Jones and Scooby-Doo for over five decades, will voice Scooby-Doo.
Emmy-winner Paul Walter Hauser, who was in Richard Jewell, I, Tonya, Cobra Kai, is reportedly being eyed for a supporting role. His presence in a project is always a signal of serious creative intent.
Shaggy and Velma remain uncast, with both announcements expected before filming begins in April.
What Is The New Scooby-Doo Show?
The series, expected to be titled Scooby-Doo: Origins, is an eight-episode origin story. Not the polished, comedic Mystery Inc. of the cartoons. These are the characters before they became who they are.
The official logline:
“During their final summer at camp, old friends Shaggy and Daphne get embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely lost Great Dane puppy that may have been a witness to a supernatural murder. Together with the pragmatic and scientific townie, Velma, and the strange, but ever so handsome new kid, Freddy, they set out to solve the case that is pulling each of them into a creepy nightmare that threatens to expose all of their secrets.”
There is a supernatural murder. There are secrets. The tone is closer to Riverdale than to Saturday morning cartoons, genuinely dramatic, with real stakes.
Scooby-Doo appears not as the fully-formed companion of the original series but as a lost puppy who may have witnessed something terrible, meeting these kids at the beginning of everything.
The Team Behind The Rebirth Of Scooby-Doo
The series comes from Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions, the most prolific producer in television history.
Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg wrote the scripts and serve as showrunners. Warner Bros. Television is the studio.
Netflix picked it up in March 2025 in a competitive situation with a premium, script-to-series commitment, meaning the full creative vision existed before Netflix agreed to make it.
Filming starts in Atlanta in late April and runs through September. The show is expected on Netflix in 2027.
Fred Jones has been waiting 57 years for this version of himself. Jenkins gets to be the one who shows us who he really is.
