Fox's Gotham may have just ended its second season a few weeks ago, but the creative team is already busy getting Season 3 together. We already know there will be a few changes coming to the DC series when it returns next fall. One of those changes will be the rise of Poison Ivy, who is going from a little girl to what we thought would be a teenager next season. As it turns out, she's more of a full-grown woman playing a 19-year-old on the series. This morning, Gotham announced which actress the network has cast in the role, and she is way older than we expected. Poison Ivy will be played by Ted 2 actress Maggie Geha. Check her out.
Fox announced the casting this morning, and finally gave us some details about how a young Ivy Pepper could suddenly get so sophisticated. The network says that Ivy Pepper will encounter "a monster" from Indian Hill. That altercation will lead her to be reborn as an older individual who totally understands how to use her sexuality to the best of her ability. As a grown woman, she'll also set her sights on Bruce Wayne. (We're presuming the real one, not the long-haired look-alike.)
In the past, the soon-to-be Poison Ivy has been played by Clare Foley, who grew older as time passed on the series but who could hardly pass for a 19-year-old. In fact, right now she's 14, but could easily pass for someone younger. The new version of Poison Ivy is going to have a more regular role on the series and will be closer to the older villainess in the comics. As such, Maggie Geha will be in more scenes and will spend more time filming on set, a concept that would be hard for a 14-year-old with limited on set hours to accomplish.
In addition, since Poison Ivy is such a hyper-sexualized character as an adult, if the show is planning to turn her into a villain earlier than the Batman comics timeline does, you really need an adult in the role. While Clare Foley did grow even more messed up and villain-like as time has passed in Gotham, she's hardly using the gifts that god gave her at this point, and thank goodness for that. Using an Indian Hill plotline to have her reborn should be the simplest way of moving Poison Ivy's story forward.
Gotham's Ivy Pepper is hardly the Poison Ivy from the comics, who is actually named Pamela Isley, so there was always the chance that a new Poison Ivy could move into town, leaving the original as a red herring, sort-of like the Joker plotline on the show may have done. Now, we definitely know Ivy Pepper is being reborn and she'll be played by a chick that had small parts in Ted 2 and The Rewrite. We'll have to wait and she if she has the talents to bring an iconic Batman villain to life.
Gotham will return to Fox's schedule on Monday, September 19 at 8 p.m. ET. To find out what is still set to premiere this summer, check out our summer TV premiere schedule.
