Why Poison Ivy Could Be Introduced Into The Arrowverse Soon

A new Batwoman storyline twist indicates that iconic DC Batman villain Poison Ivy could be making her first appearance in an Arrowverse show. Season 2 episode 17 “Kane, Kate” revealed that Poison Ivy had a hand in creating Safiyah’s Desert Rose, a miracle plant that has ironically been a major factor in multiple deaths on the show. Other events in Batwoman’s sophomore season’s penultimate episode, including a major visual clue, foreshadow that Poison Ivy’s particular talents and skills may play a bigger role in the show’s season finale and beyond.

One of the most familiar of Batman’s greatest foes, Dr. Pamela Isley, better known as Poison Ivy, is a brilliant botanist and biochemist with an uncanny control over plants, a deadly touch, and a penchant for ecoterrorism. She is an expert in plant toxins and mind control. The character has been a popular villain in numerous versions of Batman, on television, in film, and in animated features. Poison Ivy hasn’t had much interaction with Batwoman in the comics other than them briefly crossing paths with the earliest Batwoman, Kathy Kane. Poison Ivy’s latest appearances in comics such as The New 52 and DC Rebirth appear to be framing her as more anti-hero than a villain.

Poison Ivy’s unofficial introduction to the Arrowverse was the Elseworlds crossover when the heroes passed an Arkham Asylum cell door featuring a red rose and the name P. Isley. Batwoman next mentioned Poison Ivy in season 2 episode 13. “I’ll Give You a Clue,” when she was mentioned during Cluemaster’s game, while he was taunting Sophie, Mary, and his daughter, Stephanie Brown. Yet, the biggest indication Poison Ivy may soon need to make an in-person visit to Gotham came in “Kane, Kate” when Safiyah revealed that Poison Ivy was playing a major role in helping her restore her Desert Rose empire on the remote island of Coryana. Subsequently, brainwashed amnesiac Kate Kane, now going by the identity of Roman Sionis’s daughter Circe, infiltrated the Batcave and stole all the stage 3 biohazards from their containment cell, among them a canister holding a vine of ivy.

Significant Batwoman TV storylines have revolved around the Desert Rose plant, whose healing powers have made it the center of an increasingly bloody conflict between Alice and one of season 2’s villains, Safiyah, the leader of the island where the Desert Rose grows. After Alice set fire to the island’s flowers, Safiyah’s top priorities were to retaliate and regrow the blooms, which also have venomous properties. Alice may have stabbed Safiyah in the penultimate episode, but she doesn’t seem keen on letting her enemy die so easily, which means she will need the Desert Rose plant that Ryan Wilder gave Safiyah. One of Safiyah’s toxins could also be a factor in Kate Kane’s brainwashing, possibly prompting Alice to seek out Poison Ivy’s assistance to create an antidote to help Kate break free of the mind control Safiyah and Sionis are exerting over her.

Another angle Batwoman could explore is the more recently depicted antihero side of Poison Ivy. The biohazard collected by Kate Kane for Sionis is clearly of Poison Ivy’s creation, but it’s also a relic Batman locked away. Poison Ivy may not be the same person she was when she created it. Batwoman could enlist Poison Ivy to help nullify the threat or provide more information about it and the other dangerous weapons Kate may have stolen:  Joker’s acid flower, Clayface’s mud, Killer Croc’s tooth, and what will become Bane’s venom.

Batwoman is setting the stage for Poison Ivy to be the first of Batman’s classic villains to make an in-person appearance on the show. In the second season, with Bruce Wayne’s appearances, Joker’s paintings, and the multiple Ivy references, Batwoman has teased that Gotham’s past will intrude on its future. Poison Ivy will be a welcome frenemy or worthy foe.

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