When you look at the resume that actor Jessica Chastain has amassed over her entire career, the words "comic book movie," don't come readily to mind. And yet, when Gotham City Sirens announced that Poison Ivy was going to be one of the three titular Sirens in play, her name was one of the first that came to the minds of fans and commentators alike. But while we can wish and hope for a Chastain-cast Ivy in the DCEU, it's only going to happen if she's open to that possibility, and as luck would have it, she totally is. I recently spoke with Jessica Chastain, while she was promoting her latest film The Zookeeper's Wife, and she defined the big factors that would help bring her to the table thusly:
I'm interested in all things where the characters are strong and dynamic, and not stereotypes or objects. I like female characters that are subjects, not objects. And so, if Poison Ivy happens to be that, sure. Throw my hat in the ring.
Reading that statement from Jessica Chastain, it's readily apparent that those factors shouldn't even be conditions: they should be pre-requisites. After all, Chastain has gone on record before as stating that she'd be all for a comic book project, so long as the character was well written and gave her more to do than merely be a "girlfriend or daughter." DC Comics certainly looks to be interested in shaping up their image, especially when it comes to its female characters. We've seen how the studio is handling Wonder Woman thus far, and even from the history of Gotham City Sirens' 2009- 2011 run, you can tell that the versions of the characters present in those books best fits the bill when it comes to Chastain's wishes.
Though that's not to say there isn't already some mild competition for the role. So far, the top candidates for Poison Ivy mentioned have been Mr. Robot's Stephanie Corneliussen and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Megan Fox, though Corneliussen is a self-professed hopeful, while Fox is a rumor we'd picked up on a couple of months ago. But since there hasn't been any official word on casting one of the three crucial leads to Gotham City Sirens in play, Chastain could probably dominate the field, should any preliminary talks happen to start up in the near future.
You can watch my conversation with Jessica Chastain about this very subject, courtesy of the video below.
Jessica Chastain would make a fantastic Poison Ivy for Warner Bros' Gotham City Sirens, so long as the project shows us an Ivy that is reflective of Chastain's standards of character and integrity. A more threatening, bad-assed Poison Ivy would mesh well with Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad, giving the pair the rapport that the comic readers would expect from such a film. If projects like Painkiller Jane and Tom Clancy's The Division don't get in the way, Warner Bros should totally follow up with Chastain and take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to help liven up the DCEU with another actor that is up to the task.
The Zookeeper's Wife opens in theaters on Friday, while Gotham City Sirens is currently in development.
