MovieChat Forums > Batman & Robin (1997) Discussion > Ivy's Poison Kiss

Ivy's Poison Kiss

posted 5 years ago by AmeriGirl26 (15124)
6 replies | jump to latest

This film actually caused a misunderstanding about Poison Ivy's ability to poison anybody she kissed on the lips. In this story, she unnaturally produces venom from her lips, due to the mutations that came from her transformation in the lab in South America.

Turns out, in the comics, and some of the cartoons, that isn't the case at all. I re-watched the Animated Series, and on there, Poison Ivy would actually put special lipstick on before poisoning her victims. She made it herself, and probably had given herself an antidote beforehand. The original Poison Ivy wasn't nearly as fantastical as the one in this movie. She apparently had to inject herself with anti-toxins all the time because of the nature of her hideout (the cartoon indicated she deliberately had it hidden in a garbage dump full of toxic waste), and her work with poisonous (sometimes carnivorous) plants.

Trouble is, there are several ways to interpret her as a supervillain, and this movie went down the path of making it seem like she had become a human/plant mutant.

[–] HorrorMetal (874) 5 years ago

Hmm... I kind of like the venom being her own a little better.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15124) 5 years ago

It always did make more sense to me that she could produce her own venom, but like I said, the comics and the movies portrayed her origins and unique biology differently.

[–] Sidha108 (2737) 5 years ago

I like to think she can control the venom coming out of her lips (and probably her vagina) so she could kiss or have sex with someone and not necessarily kill him.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15124) 5 years ago

That would be handy....if she actually wanted to get into a relationship with anyone.

[–] Sidha108 (2737) 5 years ago

Yeah, it seems like she wanted to have sex with Mr. Freeze so I'm sure she wouldn't want to kill him.

[–] Satan2016 (26217) 5 years ago

I think this origin story would be canon in 1997: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_Ivy_(character)#Post-Crisis

Following the events of the DC maxi-series comic Crisis on Infinite Earths, which massively retconned DC Universe history and continuity, Poison Ivy's origins were revised in Secret Origins #36, 1988, written by Neil Gaiman.[12] Poison Ivy's real name is Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, PhD, a Gotham City botanist. She grows up wealthy with emotionally distant parents and later studies advanced botanical biochemistry at a university with Alec Holland under Dr. Jason Woodrue. Isley, a shy girl, is easily seduced by her professor. Woodrue injects Isley with poisons and toxins as an experiment, causing her transformation.[14] She nearly dies twice as a result of these poisonings, driving her insane. Later, Woodrue flees from the authorities leaving Isley in the hospital for six months. Enraged at the betrayal, she suffers from violent mood swings, being sweet one moment and evil the next. When her boyfriend has a car accident after mysteriously suffering from a massive fungal overgrowth, Isley drops out of school and leaves Seattle, eventually settling in Gotham City.[15]

She begins her criminal career by threatening to release her suffocating spores into the air unless the city meets her demands. Batman, who appears in Gotham that very same year, thwarts her scheme, and she is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.[16] From this point on, she has a kind of obsession with Batman, him being the only person she could not control due to his strong will and focus. Over the years, she develops plant-like superpowers, the most noticeable being a lethal toxin in her lips; she is literally able to kill with a kiss.