It's been a rollercoaster few weeks for fans of all things Detective Comics. Damon Lindelof's DCU series Lanterns recently wrapped up a stellar debut season; production suddenly halted on Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II, only for Steven Soderbergh to swoop in to provide a last-minute assist; and James Watkins' hotly anticipated body-horror Clayface is heading to cinemas this very week. And if that all hasn't fully twisted your noodle, then get this: Deadline is reporting that The Penguin showrunner Lauren LaFranc is in talks to join a new Poison Ivy focused TV series in development at Warner Bros. and DC.
Per Deadline's reporting, LeFranc is currently only eyeing a producorial role on the series and isn't expected to serve as either writer or showrunner on the project — one that had been temporarily put on the back burner amid Paramount and Warner Bros.' mega-merger but is very much now back on the board. While nothing is known about the series' plot, setting, or indeed casting as of yet (Lake Bell voices Poison Ivy in animated show Harley Quinn, but otherwise the character has been conspicuously absent from DC Studios' output), it is at least known that this show isn't expected to relate or connect to Matt Reeves' established The Batman universe, which itself — not at all confusingly — isn't connected to James Gunn's mainline DC Universe featuring Superman, Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface.
Perhaps most memorably previously brought to life on screen by Uma Thurman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin, and by Diane Pershing in Batman: The Animated Series, Poison Ivy — aka Dr. Pamela Isley — has been a mainstay in Batman's rogues' gallery since her first comic book appearance in Batman #181 in 1966, but hasn't really been given a proper chance to shine in live-action to date. With Clayface and The Penguin having given some of Bats' best baddies a whole new villainous lease on life in recent times though, maybe a Lauren LeFranc overseen Poison Ivy show will give Dr Isley chance to really, er, plant her flag in the on-screen DC pantheon. Watch this space!