Karen Gillan Wants To Play Poison Ivy In The DC Universe

There’s one actress whom anyone can picture as Poison Ivy in the new DC Universe that James Gunn and Peter Safran are making: Karen Gillan. For any fan of the Sci-Fi and/or fantasy genre, let alone those for superhero and anti-hero arcs, Gillan would be on the shortlist for the villainous botanist in Gotham City.

Poison Ivy is one of the most-portrayed villains in the Batman franchise. But in all platforms, only Uma Thurman has portrayed her in the big screen way back in 1997 in the live action Batman & Robin film which starred George Clooney as Batman and Chris O’Donnell as Robin. Thurman portrayed the villainess teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Victor Fries aka Mr. Freeze.

Many actresses have portrayed the role in live action in the small screen however. In the series Gotham alone, Poison Ivy had three actresses to brought her to life in live action. Clare Foley played her first then Maggie Geha for seasons 3 and 4, and finally by Peyton List in season 5.

On the other hand, the Arrowverse introduced two versions of Poison Ivy portrayed by Bridget Regan as Pamela Isley and Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton. Hamilton was noted to be the first Poison Ivy character to be portrayed as Asian American.

Karen Gillan Would Like To Be Poison Ivy Of Gunn’s DCU

In an article from GamesRadar, it featured a snippet of Total Film magazine’s interview with Karen Gillan. There she said:

I always thought that Poison Ivy was really fun. So maybe something like that would be cool.

Considering that Gunn and Safran has introduced the initial 10 titles under Chapter One: Gods and Monsters of the new DC slate, there is one particular title where Poison Ivy could undoubtedly appear. If the slated project The Brave and The Bold is anything like the comic book series that ran from 1955 to 1983 or even the animated television series in 2008, she has a high chance of appearing.

Being Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise of Marvel Studios’ MCU, Gillan is no stranger to superheroes even to supervillains. Right off the bat, people could imagine her transform into the mistress of advanced botanical biochemistry. Her professional relationship with the director-writer-producer now co-CEO of DC Studios is somewhat icing on the cake. She shared:

Honestly, if James asked me to play an alien that sits in the background of a shot and doesn’t talk, I would say yes [laughs]. Because working with him has been one of the great joys of my career so far.

Poison Ivy Could Already Have An Actress In Karen Gillan

Credit: DC Comics

For decades, the character has stepped on either side of the story. Although she was introduced as one of the antagonists for Batman, the core driving force in her ultimate plans was always to preserve nature. Or at least defend and protect plantlife. In some cases, if not a lot, she uses her special abilities to exact personal revenge as well. Which is what usually puts her to cross paths with the Dark Knight.

Recently, her developed relationship with Harley Quinn could also be seen as something that saved both characters from spiraling into all-evil villains. Harley finally found a significant other that values her for her in Ivy. And Ivy found someone who can understand her way of thinking and accept it wholeheartedly in Harley.

This is one of the, if not the, reasons why fans are clamoring for a live action project for Ivy. Her relationship with Harley is very popular nowadays to say the least. And Margot Robbie would pretty much be down for such a project as well.

Gunn has already worked with the character Harley Quinn and actress Robbie in his 2021 The Suicide Squad movie. So what could be the next move for DC?

Do you think actress Karen Gillan would make a great Poison Ivy as well? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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