James Gunn is currently on something of a victory lap. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is on the verge of hitting theaters, with advance reviews praising it as a fitting finale for his oddball team of heroes. But, as we all know, this is Gunn’s final collaboration with Marvel Studios, as he’s now steering the DCU toward a brighter future.
With so many projects in the pipeline, the rumor mill has gone into overdrive, but he’s taken the time out from the Guardians press tour to squash one specific story about Dominque McElligott playing the DCU Poison Ivy:
Poison Ivy was last seen on the big screen in 1997’s notoriously dreadful Batman & Robin. In that cinematic disaster, she was played by Uma Thurman, though this high-camp take was far from what fans wanted. We’d love to see an updated Poison Ivy, as with ecological and deforestation concerns now top of the agenda, she’d probably end up as more of an antihero than an outright villain (as seen in HBO’s excellent Harley Quinn).
Gunn debunking this also means that Nebula star Karen Gillan’s dream of playing the character is still alive. Gillan was recently asked about which DC role she’d want to play, saying that at this point she’d do whatever Gunn offered her. But, after taking a moment to reflect, she said:
“I don’t know why I’m talking myself into more prosthetics, actually, scratch that, I want to play Poison Ivy!”
Gillan could nail it as Ivy so we’re hopeful this eventually happens. For now, all eyes are on Gunn’s DCU Batman movie The Brave and the Bold, which will sit alongside the Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson Batman universe and hopefully provide a more overtly comic-booky take on the Dark Knight.