Deadline reports The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc is trading Batman villains (and versions of Gotham), with the producer now attached to a Poison Ivy series for HBO. Unlike The Penguin, the show is not intended to be part of Matt Reeves‘s The Batman universe, and will presumably be part of DC Studios’ main DCU with Clayface, Lanterns, Superman, Peacemaker et al. No writers are currently attached to the project.
Doctor Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy has become one of the Dark Knight’s most enduring foes since she was created by Carmine Infantino, Robert Kanigher, and Sheldon Moldoff for 1966’s Batman #181. An eco-terrorist, Isley’s motivations and concern for the natural world opens the door for a show with a morally complex protagonist, as well as an opportunity to reintroduce Margot Robbie as her love interest Harley Quinn.
Ivy has been the star of multiple solo comics, including the currently ongoing series by G. Willow Wilson, Marcio Takara and co. Despite her prominence, Ivy has only been portrayed in a live-action film once, in 1997’s Batman & Robin (played by Uma Thurman). She has been portrayed before on live-action TV in Gotham (by Clare Foley, Maggie Geha, and then Peyton List), and Batwoman (by Bridget Regan).
LeFranc was nominated for numerous awards for The Penguin, including two Emmys, and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Limited Series for the show. A second season of that series had been unlikely for some time (especially with the film it led into, The Batman Part II, being delayed until February 18, 2028), and as it’s now been two years since it premiered, it’s only natural LeFranc has decided to move onto another character.
In the meantime, another Batman villain vehicle, Clayface, will be released in theaters tomorrow, and the DCU will return to HBO Max with the Jimmy Olsen-centric The People v. Gorilla Grodd next year, along with a number of animated series with unconfirmed release windows. Poison Ivy also took center stage in this year’s comics crossover Batman: Bad Seeds, which will conclude with next week’s oversized special Sunrise.
