10 Insane Times Supervillains Developed New Powers
8. Poison Ivy - Plant-Based Communication
DC Comics
Poison Ivy may not be much of a villain these days, straying into anti-heroic territory more often than not, but she's been considered one for most of her life. As one of Batman's greatest foes, Ivy has constantly been the subject of redesigns and power-based facelifts almost every other year, with said tinkering taking a somewhat peculiar turn in Gotham City Sirens.
Paul Dini is synonymous with Harley and Ivy, and collaborated with Guillem March on a series all about the duo (plus Catwoman) in Gotham City Sirens. There, Ivy uses her abilities to manifest as a vase of roses in Zatanna's dressing room while being located miles away. It makes for a particularly creepy image, but it's a pretty inventive use of her skill-set all the same.
Of course, it's important to remember that Ivy isn't just a Batman villain either. In her encounters with Swamp-Thing, the Gothamite has demonstrated an ability to communicate with the 'Green', the etherial force that binds all plant life together, and it makes you wonder why the two haven't crossed paths more often.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
