James Gunn Shut Down The Suicide Squad Rumor About A Beloved Batman Villain

Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy

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With Wonder Woman 1984 now in the rear view, there are a number of highly anticipated DC projects coming down the line. The next installment in the DCEU is James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, which will arrive in theaters and HBO Max this summer. Gunn assembled a killer cast to play the ensemble of villains, but he recently shut down rumors about a beloved Batman foe. Namely, femme fatale Poison Ivy.

The Suicide Squad will be a soft reboot from David Ayer's 2017 original movie, but will feature a ton of new faces. Many of the villains who will make up Task Force X aren't household names, but fans have been wondering if Batman rogue Poison Ivy might make an appearance. James Gunn recently did a Q&A on his Instagram Story, where he set the record straight. Check it out below.

James Gunn's Instagram Story post

Well, that seems pretty cut and dry. It looks like DC fans should probably stop holding out hope that Gotham City's favorite ecoterrorist is going to pop up throughout the runtime of The Suicide Squad. But considering Poison Ivy's relationship with Harley Quinn in the comics and other media, hopefully this is a pairing that will come to life sooner rather than later.

The above post comes to us from the Instagram of James Gunn himself. The filmmaker regularly uses social media to directly communicate with fans, usually about his pair of upcoming superhero flicks. The latest informal Q&A was no exception, as he once again took to social to shoot down rumors about The Suicide Squad. This one just happened to be about the rumored inclusion of Poison Ivy.

The Suicide Squad will arrive on HBO Max at the same time as theaters. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

Batman and Gotham City factored heavily into the original Suicide Squad movie. Ben Affleck makes a few brief appearances throughout its runtime, and we met his iconic foes Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Joker, and Killer Croc. And while fans are patiently waiting for Poison Ivy to appear in the live-action DCEU, James Gunn's DC debut won't be the venue.

While Gotham City has continued to be a major setting for the DCEU in projects like Birds of Prey and The Batman, it's currently unclear if/when Poison Ivy will get to factor in. But as previously mentioned, she has a special friendship/romance with Harley Quinn that would be great to see on the big screen. That and her terrifying plant-based abilities.

Poison Ivy has been adapted into various media over the years, including comics and video games. On the big screen she was famously played by Uma Thurman in the campy '90s flick Batman & Robin. She's also one of the main characters in the adult cartoon series Harley Quinn, voiced by Lake Bell. There were also a slew of actresses who played the role on The CW's Gotham.

The Suicide Squad is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 6th. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.