Lauren LeFranc, the showrunner behind HBO’s Emmy-winning “The Penguin,” is in talks to produce a Poison Ivy series, reviving a project that appeared stalled just two months ago. Warner Bros. and DC are developing the show, with HBO as its likely home, Deadline reported Wednesday. The network has not greenlit it. No writers are attached and no one is cast. LeFranc would join as a producer rather than a writer, a role that falls under her two-year overall deal with HBO.
The series would sit outside Matt Reeves’ Batman universe, the world of “The Penguin” and Robert Pattinson’s films. It remains unclear if it would join James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU. That detail contradicts rumors from July, which placed a Poison Ivy show inside Reeves’ grounded Gotham.
The news reverses recent momentum. Two months ago, reports said DC Studios and HBO had rejected Poison Ivy and Catwoman pitches as part of a pullback from superhero television. Deadline now says the Poison Ivy project sat idle for months while Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. played out.
LeFranc brings strong credentials. “The Penguin” won nine Emmys in 2025, including lead actress in a limited series for Cristin Milioti, who played Sofia Falcone. LeFranc previously worked on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Impulse” and “Chuck.” She has said she wrote Oz Cobb as a villain, probing his psychology without excusing his crimes. A similar approach to Dr. Pamela Isley would suit a character who has often tilted toward camp.
Recent screen history supports that reading. Lake Bell voices Ivy in HBO Max’s animated “Harley Quinn,” and Uma Thurman played her in 1997’s “Batman & Robin.” Fan speculation has favored a grounded version, a botanist turned ecoterrorist who relies on toxins and expertise rather than plant-controlling powers. Nothing in the reporting confirms that direction.
