Okay, even for Gotham, this is getting a bit too much.
Deadline has word that once again, the Fox series Gotham is recasting the role of Ivy Pepper, who becomes the DC Comics supervillain Poison Ivy, this time with Peyton List. List takes over from Maggie Geha, who took over from Clare Foley, who originated the character in Seasons 1 and 2.
According to the article, it's unclear if List will debut as Ivy early next year or as part of a possible Season 5 in Fall 2018. Early next year seems the most likely.
Gotham producers said in a statement, "In the continuing evolution of Poison Ivy’s origin story, Ivy Pepper has been transformed once again taking another step toward becoming the Ivy we know from the comics. Dangerous. A live wire of crazy energy. She’ll set her sights on Gotham, intent on making the city her own green paradise."
List, 31, is best known as Jane Sterling on the AMC series Mad Men and as Raimy Sullivan on the CW series Frequency. She's also appeared as Golden Glider/Lisa Snart on The Flash and as Lucy Lane on Smallville. She also starred as Cara Coburn in the CW's remake of The Tomorrow People, and appeared on episodes of Charlie's Angels (2011), Hawaii Five-O, Moonlight, Monk, 90210 and FlashForward.
Created in 1966 by by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff, Poison Ivy first appeared in Batman (vol.1) #181 as Dr. Lillian Rose, Ph.D., a promising botanist from Seattle, who was seduced by Marc LeGrande into assisting him with the theft of an Egyptian artifact containing ancient herbs. Fearing she would implicate him in the theft, he attempted to poison her with the herbs, which were deadly and untraceable. She survived this murder attempt and discovered she has acquired an immunity to all natural toxins and diseases.
The character's origin was revised by Neil Gaiman in 1988's Secret Origins (vol.3) #36 as Pamela Lillian Isley, who grew up wealthy with emotionally distant parents. She later studied advanced botanical biochemistry at a university with Alec Holland under Dr. Jason Woodrue. Isley, a timid shy girl, was easily seduced by her professor. Woodrue injected Isley with poisons and toxins as an experiment, causing her transformation. She nearly died twice as a result of these poisonings, driving her insane. Later, Woodrue fledfrom the authorities, leaving Isley in the hospital for six months. Enraged at the betrayal, she suffered from violent mood swings, being sweet one moment and evil the next.
She began her criminal career by threatening to release her suffocating spores into the air unless the city meets her demands. Batman, who appeared in Gotham that very same year, thwarted her scheme, and she was incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. From this point on, she developed something of an obsession with Batman, with him being the only person she could not control. Over the years, she developed plant-like superpowers, the most noticeable being a lethal toxin in her lips; she is able to literally kill with a kiss.
List will be the fourth actress to portray the character in live action, after Geha, Foley and Uma Thurman in the 1997 movie Batman & Robin. The character has also appeared in a number of animated projects, including Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Static Shock, Gotham Girls and Justice League (all voiced by Diane Pershing), The Batman (voiced by Piera Coppola), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Jennifer Hale),Young Justice (voiced by Alyssa Milano), Justice League Action (voiced by Natasha Leggero), and Batman and Harley Quinn (voiced by Paget Brewster).
Gotham airs Thursday nights on Fox at 8 p.m. EST.