Right now, it looks like Poison Ivy is quickly becoming Gotham‘s equivalent of James Bond insofar that she’s being continuously recast. As you should remember, Clare Foley played a much younger version of the character – Ivy Pepper – beginning with the pilot episode, before being aged up via sci-fi means at the start of season 3. And with that passing of the torch came Maggie Geha, who’s done a fine job in the time since.
Geha, who was billed as a series regular for the duration of season 3, actually ended up being criminally underused and has since been demoted to “guest star” in season 4. Now, the latest word to come down says that she’s unfortunately out, and that Peyton List is in.
Here’s what Gotham‘s producers had to say about this bold move:
“In the continuing evolution of Poison Ivy’s origin story, Ivy Pepper has been transformed once again taking another step toward becoming the Ivy we know from the comics. Dangerous. A live wire of crazy energy. She’ll set her sights on Gotham, intent on making the city her own green paradise.”
From that, we can probably deduce the almost childlike naivete of Geha’s Ivy will soon be a thing of the past and List’s take on the character will be more in line with the villain known from the source material. And considering that this season has seen characters such as the Scarecrow embrace their destinies, it’s natural that Ivy follow suit. Who knows, maybe she’ll even start calling herself “Pamela Isley.”
If List sounds or looks familiar to DC fans, she should, having played Lucy Lane and Lisa Snart on Smallville and The Flash, respectively, in the past. And much like those roles, her turn as Ivy will be recurring, with a 2018 debut expected.
Gotham airs on Thursday nights on Fox.
