Exclusive: Poison Ivy Movie In Development

We have the scoop that a Poison Ivy movie is currently in the works and could be coming to HBO Max. The DCEU continues to grow.

By Doug Norrie | Published

poison ivy

With seemingly every comic book character ever created getting a film or series these days, it sure feels like we’ve covered all of our bases in this respect. But that hasn’t been the case with all of them. There are still some well-known figures from the printed pages (heroes and villains alike) who’ve yet to get a full story. One of those is Poison Ivy who’s come close to appearing in recent movie productions only to have it fall through somewhere in the process. That looks like it is set to change sooner than later. The latest Giant Freakin Robot exclusive from our trusted and proven source has it that a Poison Ivy movie is in development for HBO Max and we are going to finally get our favorite evil botanist updated for the big screen. 

While details about this Poison Ivy movie are light right now, it does fit in line with what is happening within the DC Extended Universe for Warner Bros. There is a massive push right now to get every character his or her time in the spotlight and gone are the days when those movies or series could only be focused on the traditional heroes. Now, the villains have a story to tell as well. And that’s looking to be the case with what happens here concerning Poison Ivy. It will be interesting to see how they take the character considering her particular brand of powers is a bit unlike other things currently alive and kicking for DC. 

The most well-known version of Poison Ivy we’ve seen in live-action form is probably Uma Thurman’s portrayal of the character in Batman & Robin. This was before comic book movies started taking themselves a bit more seriously in larger franchises and the flick was pretty much a total mess. Thurman’s portrayal worked well enough for what the film was trying to do in all of its weird campiness, but the flick doesn’t come close to ringing out in the conversation of comic book adaptations, especially with what we have these days. 

poison ivy

And there is a Poison Ivy currently in the Arrowverse right now in the Batwoman series. She’s played by Bridget Regan in the series, adapting the Pamela Isley version of the character who has a penchant for experimenting on and ultimately controlling plants and their toxins. The show has been building towards her inclusion with her plants having an effect on characters well before we see her actually in the show. But this planned Poison Ivy movie will not follow the Arrowverse timeline, it will be a new inclusion into the DC Extended Universe. 

This Poison Ivy movie was originally supposed to have been proceeded by having the character included in Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey which would have dealt some with the relationship between Isley and Harley Quinn. That’s a duo which has had considerable run in the pages of the comic books as well as recent animated adaptations. But the plan was ultimately scrapped. And there were plans for Gotham City Sirens which also would have included Robbie’s Harley as well as Catwoman and Poison Ivy. But that’s been put on the backburner. With this news of a Poison Ivy movie, it likely replaces that plan altogether. 

We are sure to start hearing more details about this Poison Ivy movie soon enough especially with DC continuing to build out its offerings. She is a character who deserves a backstory and with the world around Batman and Batgirl only growing, is almost a necessary inclusion in the universe. Which begs the final question: what universe will feature this Poison Ivy movie? Considering how much DC has going on right now, she could land in a couple of different places.