After The Penguin, Poison Ivy should have its black series on HBO

Lauren LeFranc, the showrunner of the spin-off series led by Colin Farrell, is in discussions to produce a new project devoted to one of Gotham City’s most famous villains.

After the Penguin, it’s time for the plant woman!

Poison Ivy, one of Batman’s iconic enemies, could soon be entitled to her own series on HBO. According to Variety, Lauren LeFranc, who created and directed The Penguin, is being approached to produce this new project dedicated to Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy.

The project is still in its early stages. HBO has not officially ordered the series, no writer has been announced, and no actress has been cast to play the character. Lauren LeFranc would be involved as a producer, but there is no indication yet that she will also be the screenwriter or showrunner. The series should also not belong to the universe of The Batman, developed by Matt Reeves and carried by Robert Pattinson, which was the case with The Penguin.

Broadcast in 2024 on HBO, the series extended the universe of the film The Batman by following the criminal rise of Oswald Cobb, played by Colin Farrell. Its dark approach, anchored in crime fiction and the power struggles of Gotham, won over critics and audiences. Farrell notably won a Golden Globe for his performance.

Poison Ivy could in turn lend itself to a black series, even if its universe is very different. Botanist turned supervillain, Pamela Isley possesses the power to control plants and uses pheromones to manipulate humans. By turns criminal, eco-terrorist or anti-heroine, over the years she has become a much more complex character than a simple adversary of Batman.

The character has already been played by several actresses, in cinema and on television, notably Uma Thurman in Batman & Robin (1997), or more recently Peyton List in the series Gotham or Bridget Regan in season 3 of Batwoman. It remains to be seen which actress will inherit the role for this new series and which side of Poison Ivy will be highlighted.

In the meantime, HBO is currently filming a series The People vs. Gorilla Grodd, comic derivative of Superman, announced for 2027.