Poison Ivy

August 03, 2013


Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy is the best thing to come out of the cinematic misstep that is 1997's Batman & Robin

Catwoman and Poison Ivy are not exactly the best of friends. Photo via Comic Book Movie

Thurman in character was simply relatable, campy fun. A quick Google tour yields a vast garden of cosplayers and drag queens clearly in wonderment of her Ingrid Ferrin costume. Guess who's a fangirl? 

Kim Kardashian as Poison Ivy on Halloween 2011. Via Haute Living

DC Comics' famous bad seed started out as the erudite Pamela Isley, a botanist who was experimented upon—poisoned to die with ancient Egyptian herbs, in another version—by her peer Jason Woodrue to blossom into something no longer wholly human. 

Ivy's kisses kill, her lips teeming with toxins. She can cause fungi to grow on enemies. She can spout pollen that make people as pliant as bamboos to her whims; she herself is immune to all pathogens. She can literally talk to flowers and mobilize various plants to murder at her behest. ("My vines have a crush on you!") And there is also her unbridled botanical knowledge, which when coupled with her vegetable instinct makes her a sublime ecoterrorist

True, she sows fear not to harvest greens or gold, but to weed out unsustainable corporations and individuals. She wants to restore forests, recreate Eden...she wants to save the earth, damn it.    

So, pray tell us, why is Poison Ivy a villain again? 

Not your average conservationist

You Might Also Like

2 comments