Look out, Ryan! So, we take back what we said about Marquis a few posts ago about how we loved the character. After Jada told her long-lost daughter about her son’s run-in with The Joker, we knew that everything wasn’t what it seemed. The mid-Season finale confirms this to be the case. However, dealing with her brother’s takeover of Wayne Enterprises isn’t Ryan’s only problem. Her best friend and the Bat Team’s resident doctor, Mary, is now full-blown Poison Ivy after being pricked by one of the supervillain’s vines earlier in the season.
After the reveal of Mary’s abilities in the episode preceding the mid-season finale, a first look was released of actress Nicole Kang as the new Poison Ivy. Or, Poison Mary as Alice says.
In the midseason premiere, which is scheduled, for mid-January 2022, we’ll get our first taste of the original Poison Ivy, Pamela Isley, the former girlfriend of Renee Montoya. It’s been said that Pam, as she is known by Renee, will be a mother-like figure to Mary. It makes sense given that Doctor Hamilton’s mother, Catherine died after being poisoned by her stepsister Alice.
Mary’s transformation into Gotham’s newest eco supervillain comes after she is ignored by Luke and Ryan. She becomes tired of them only calling on her for medical help. After she is knocked out by Poison Ivy’s escaped vines, she begins blacking out.
Eventually, she realises she’s the new Poison Ivy. She teams up with Alice, who has become a member of the Bat Team. Moreover, this is on the instructions of Renee Montoya, who is blackmailing Ryan with additional prison time.
The Mad Brother
Mary’s new persona isn’t the only issue Ryan has to contend with. Her half-brother, Marquis, isn’t who she thought he was. As their mother, Jada, explains after their run-in with Professor Pyg, Marquis was joy-buzzed by the Joker as a child. The heir apparent to Jeturian Industries was never the same after this. He was even responsible for the death of his allergy-inflicted father, Franklin.
Upon meeting his baby sister for the first time, Marquis put on a convincing act that he cared and wanted to know her. In reality, he didn’t care. However, this is not the true Marquis. According to Jada, her son was kind and loving.
Fast-forward to now, and Jada has tried everything to fix her son. However, she has been trying to do it without him knowing. He even stages a coup against his own sister to take over Wayne Enterprises. Ryan only agreed to the takeover because he threatened to destroy the only vial of cure that Jada created for Mary. He also dyed his hair purple as a nod to the Joker.
Personal Joker
To break down this storyline, we need to look at Alice and who she is in the comics and the show. She is Kate’s personal Joker. In regards to Ryan, Marquis is shaping into her Joker, but it might be much deeper than just his sister. Given his past and his involvement with his father’s death, he’s also a personal villain to Jada. However, the question is why?
It is established in the Season 3 premiere that Jada is a hardass. As the story has gone on, she opens up to Ryan, the daughter she claimed she wanted nothing to do with, about Marquis. Despite the awkward dynamic, it looks like Bat Lady has come to appreciate her birth mother and is willing to help her.
Ryan is a very caring person. Despite her childhood in foster homes, all she’s ever wanted is a mother’s love. Her adoptive mother, Cora, gave her that and accepted that she was gay. Now that Jada has shown up, she’ll never replace Cora. But she had her reasons for giving her daughter up outside of her affair. To have Marquis be her personal enemy, it’s surprising that she hasn’t caved.
Alice Gets Her Wish Sorta
So, Alice had a role in turning Mary into the new Poison Ivy but only indirectly. She takes her stepsister drinking and discovers the doc’s ability to use her pheromones to seduce people has kicked into gear. For a long time, Alice has wanted the sibling bond she once shared with Kate. However, given her kidnapping and her descent into madness, the former Beth Kane tried to kill her twin numerous times.
Now that Mary has become supervillain new meat, this gives Alice what she wants in a sense. She’s getting the sibling bond and a sidekick. What’s more, is she hasn’t quite been the same since she had to kill her so-called foster brother, Mouse. But, could a potential betrayal push her back to her old vengeful ways?
Could There Be A Mary/Marquis Team-Up?
So, to end this post, we need to ask if there’s a Mary-Marquis team up anywhere in the future. By the way that Poison Ivy 2.0 was looking at Marquis while he was addressing the media after his takeover of Wayne Enterprises, we’d say it’s a massive maybe. It also appears that she may have a romantic interest in him. Could it be possible that they’re hinting at a Joker-Harley Quinn-like dynamic here? We seriously hope so!
What would be better than two pseudo-supervillains teaming up against Batwoman? Also, if this happens, will Alice be left in the dust by yet another sister? We’re just too excited to find out. It would be fun to see Mary and Marquis team up, though we want Alice to be on the Bat Team again! She was doing so well too. Her comments pushed the Bat Team to snark back which provided much-needed comic relief.
Batwoman returns on January 12, 2022, alongside the Season 2 premiere of Superman & Lois.
