HBO Developing Poison Ivy Series With 'The Penguin' Producer Lauren LeFranc

· Entertainment · United States

HBO is developing a television series centered on Poison Ivy, with Lauren LeFranc, showrunner of HBO's 'The Penguin,' attached as a producer, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. The project is not expected to sit within Matt Reeves' Batman film universe, the reports said. LeFranc's 'The Penguin' was the first live-action spinoff from a Batman movie, following Colin Farrell's portrayal of the villain in Reeves' 'The Batman.' The Poison Ivy project continues Warner Bros. Discovery's strategy of building series around Batman's rogues' gallery, extending a comic-book villain into a standalone television brand rather than a film sequel.

Why it matters：Comic-book villain spinoffs have become a reliable way for studios to monetize existing IP on streaming, and a second Batman-adjacent series tests whether the model works beyond one hit.

Key points

  • Lauren LeFranc was showrunner of HBO's 'The Penguin.'
  • The project is said not to fall within Matt Reeves' Batman universe.
  • Batman villain spinoffs began with 'The Penguin,' the first live-action series from a Batman film.

Sources (original reporting)

More stories from this day