After building a following among Doctor Who fans for her time as Amy Pond, Karen Gillan’s fame soared to new heights when she was cast as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, and she’s since reprised the role in seven other MCU projects. Between that and playing Ruby Roundhouse in the latest Jumanji movies, the actress has established some major franchise cred, and recently the actress expressed interest in joining the new DC Universe franchise, which is set to launch with its Gods and Monsters slate of projects. However, Gillan has now admitted that the only reason she named-dropped a specific DC role was because she has red hair.
Earlier this month, Gillan mentioned that she’d be game to play Poison Ivy, specifically in a project that explores her romantic relationship with Harley Quinn. However, that doesn’t mean pieces are moving into place for her to play the Batman villain in any upcoming DC movies or upcoming DC TV shows. While talking about her new movie Sleeping Dogs to SiriusXM’s Jessica Shaw, Gillan shared that she hasn’t talked about this subject with DC Studios co-head James Gunn, saying:
I'm in touch with him all the time. We haven't actually spoken about a role in the DCU, but no, he's a dear friend of mine. I love him. But no, we haven't spoken about that.
Gunn directed Gillan in the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (all of which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription), so the two of them go way back. Plus, Gunn has already recruited a number of actors he worked with in the Marvel space to join him in the DC Universe, including Nathan Fillion set to play Guy Gardner in the Superman cast, as well as his brother Sean being cast as Maxwell Lord. So if Gillan wanted to come aboard this new shared continuity, chances are strong that Gunn, who runs DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, could find a character for her to play, but those conversations have yet to take place.
As for Poison Ivy, rather than having a legitimate passion to bring her to life, Karen Gillan simply chose this rogue because they share the same hair color. As she put it:
Okay. I said Poison Ivy before, but that's mainly because she has red hair. So I don't know if that's a strong enough basis for a character.
Maybe not, but there are surely enough people out in the world who’s be interested to see what Karen Gillan could do as Poison Ivy. But whether she plays the role or someone else, this is a character who definitely deserves time to shine on the big screen. The only time that’s happened so far was when Uma Thurman played her in the critically-derided Batman & Robin, so Ivy’s in desperate need of cinematic redemption. The Brave and the Bold would be the most obvious place to do this since it’s teaming Batman and his son Damian Wayne together, so maybe can can be squeezed in there, whether it’s as the main antagonist or a supporting one.
Rest assured that if Karen Gillan is cast as Poison Ivy or scores a different role in the DCU, we’ll let you know. Until then, revisit the DC movies in order and plenty of other DC projects with your Max subscription, and check out Karen Gillan acting opposite Russell Crowe in Sleeping Dogs, which is playing in theaters now.
