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It is not an uncommon writing technique to age up characters in a TV series to push the plot along. This is what appears to be happening to the infamous DC villain Poison Ivy in Season 3 of Fox’s Gotham as revealed by the new still Fox released today. It appears that she’s been aged by about 10-15 years, which begs the question of how the writers are going to explain this sudden drastic change in appearance.

Executive Producer John Stevens gives us an explanation for Poison Ivy’s transformation in a recent interview with TV Insider:

“One of the creatures that escaped from Indian Hill [in May’s finale] has the power to age people,” Stephens says. “Sometimes he uses it to kill people; other times he doesn’t get to complete the process.[…]She’s a big girl now.”

via TV Insider

An adult Maggie Geha is replacing Clare Foley in the role of Poison Ivy. It can be difficult to adapt to another actor’s performance of an already established TV character but Maggie Geha, according to John Stevens, has managed to create a similar performance that matches up to her predecessor: “Maggie really seems like Clare. She is playing the same intonations and rhythms. It’s great.”

It’ll be interesting to see how such a jarring transformation will come to influence this version of Poison Ivy, especially since fans will be comparing Gotham’s version to the already established comic book version. It’s been indicated that she may not come into her powers quite yet but, as Maggie Geha revealed in an interview with IGN, we may get a few glimpses of the Poison Ivy we are more familiar with:

“I don’t think we’ll see any super powers stuff. I think that would be way further down the line especially since this is an origin story show … So I think it’s going to be more about discovering how other people perceive her and what means. A lot of people are focused on her sexuality,” said Geha. “I think Ivy, in my opinion, doesn’t really feel sexual about anybody. I think if she notices this person is attracted to me, finds me appealing in a sexual way, I’m going to use that to my benefit. It’s more of a manipulative thing than anything,” she added.

via IGN

What are your thoughts about the new Poison Ivy? What do you think about Fox’s decision to age up the character? Are you looking forward to the new season of Gotham? Comment below or tweet me your thoughts at @birdiesrunamok.

The new season of Gotham will premiere on Fox at 8 PM on September 19, 2016.

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Sarah Musnicky

Sarah is a freelance writer and self-described workaholic. She loves fantasy and sci fi and will admit having dual loyalties between Star Trek and Star Wars as well as Marvel and DC. When she's not being socially awkward, she is in a corner obsessing over dragons, cute things, and a need to master all languages on the planet. She would like to be a professional blanket burrito when she reaches the peak of maturation.