One prominent figure in Batman's infamous rogues' gallery has struck out on her own in an odyssey for self-discovery with a new scheme to champion plant life in the DC Universe. Poison Ivy's solo series has been extended to a twelve-issue run, with the acclaimed creative team of author G. Willow Wilson and artist Marcio Takara at the helm. With the vote of confidence from DC and the fans, Poison Ivy's adventures are about to get even more epic as she plans to save the planet with one last hurrah.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Wilson teased the creative team's plans for Poison Ivy's extended run, explained the importance of identity and consciousness for the plant-based antihero, and hinted at an impending reunion between Ivy and her longtime paramour Harley Quinn. Also included is preview art from Poison Ivy #3, illustrated by Takara, colored by Arif Prianto, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

RELATED: Batman: DC Drops New Clues as to Why the Question Has Returned

Poison-Ivy-3-7

CBR: Congratulations on getting Poison Ivy extended! While you had an ending planned in case of a shorter run, was the expanded idea to take and conclude the story always in mind?

G. Willow Wilson: There were ideas that [editor] Arianna Turturro and I batted around that we really wanted to explore, but it's never certain in the world of monthly comics how many issues you're going to get. No matter what book you're on, once you've done this a few times, you should have a two-issue exit strategy in case you're told it's time to wrap it up. I pitched a conservative number of issues, but I think all of us on the team -- Marcio Takara, Arianna, Arif Prianto, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou -- knew that we had something special and unusual on our hands.

We were all hoping that we would get more room to play and expand this story, but you don't count your chickens before they hatch in the comic book industry. [laughs] This was a really nice surprise!

A lot of this story is about Poison Ivy facing her own impending mortality. What was it about approaching Pamela Isley in that way that appealed to you?

I think Pamela is at such an interesting point in her development, and it's a unique opportunity to explore stories like this. She's had a tumultuous few years -- she's been split into multiple entities that nominally share consciousness, she's spent time as a houseplant, and she's had god-like powers over the Green, as a whole. Just before we started the series, she had a lot of those god-like powers taken away, and she returned to her more classic power set, where she has control over plant life but not the entire Green. She's been up, down, been a plant, and all kinds of things. You've got to think, for an ordinary person, that would cause a lot of whiplash and to question who she really is, what is the purpose of these powers, and how does losing these powers and getting them back affect how she sees herself.

I think all of us, even us mere mortals with no superpowers of any description, are suffering from a certain amount of climate despair. There's been some sort of climate-adjacent disaster after another, from fires, floods, droughts, and all kinds of weird zoonotic diseases that are spreading more quickly. It just feels like not the world we grew up in, that the climate apocalypse is happening faster than some of us anticipated. Poison Ivy is such a great vector to explore all those things, especially since she is in such a time of upheaval and change.

RELATED: One of Batman's Allies Is Suffering From Major Burnout

Poison-Ivy-3-9

Unlike Catwoman or Harley Quinn these days, Poison Ivy is still perfectly open to using lethal force and has been since the beginning of this story. How does she view human life?

She goes through some interesting phases; she goes through ruthless phases and through hippy phases. In this story, we're trying to reconcile those two very different viewpoints of who she is because she's been portrayed very differently depending on what medium she's in -- books, films, cartoons. There's a lot of different material out there to pull from. In some stories, she's a carnivore, and in some, she's a vegan. There's no consensus on who she is rather than whatever is convenient to whatever story is happening.

This is an opportunity to put her front and center, not serving somebody else's story but in her own book. At this point in her story, she's reacting to some of the horrible things that are happening to the Earth with a kind of nihilism. She thinks that she has this kind of perfect weapon to return the Earth to a state of nature, to contain the damage human beings have done to the Earth. As we know as readers, there's stuff happening with that perfect weapon that she might not be aware of, and it might not be exactly what it seems like.

If you've been reading from the first issue, you know there are side effects of this extremely toxic mushroom she's been using that she doesn't seem to be aware of. This is going to be a reckoning for her in this story, to see the way that our plans don't always go as we envision them, and sometimes there's fallout that we don't expect. If you hang on for another couple of issues, there are some twists that are very satisfying if you've been following along since the beginning.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the artwork. Marcio and Arif have really been leaning into the psychedelic with this. How has it been working with them to take the book in that visual direction?

It's been absolutely fantastic! Marcio and Arif and Hassan, who has been absolutely killing it with the lettering and making everything mesh with that trippy vibe, have just been incredible. This series has a lot of body horror in it, to put it mildly, and I know some artists might not think it's the book for them, but Marcio takes stuff in a script and expands on it in ways that even I don't expect and arrives with something so beautiful, surreal, and grotesque all at the same time. It's really just a joy to watch the pages come in and to see these characters brought to life -- and sometimes undeath -- in just such beautiful, grotesque ways.

The surrealism and trippy aspect of this, because the weapon of choice Ivy is utilizing in this story is a psychedelic mushroom, everything is just pushed out. I think that makes the book really unique, it stands out from all the other offerings that are on the stands right now, and it's really striking. I hope it's as fun for the readers to look at as it is for us to put together. I feel like, with every page that comes in, I respond, "This is so cool and gross!" [laughs] It's just an ideal team for a book like this.

RELATED: An Underrated Batman Villain Just Got Their Killing Joke Moment - And It Changes Everything

Poison-Ivy-3-10

Even if she isn't readily present, Harley Quinn looms large over Poison Ivy, and their romance has been a major part of their dynamic for some time as Ivy goes on her own to get her mind right. What is it you wanted to explore about this dynamic in this story?

It's a central part of the story. The majority of the narration in the story is via letters Ivy is writing to Harley. In any relationship, there are things that are easier to confess from a distance, and I think that's what's happening here. There are incredible, very surreal, trippy love letters from Ivy to Harley in which she's talking about her feelings, with a depth and a passion that we certainly catch glimpses of. We see them hot and heavy in other books and the HBO animated series, but it's fun to be able to dwell on that for 22 pages, to have room to expand not just on their very obvious physical connection but get into the stuff they're leaving unsaid.

When they're together, there's a very specific dynamic. They're usually wrapped up in a big scheme or heist as an overarching throughline. In this story, we have an opportunity to focus on the emotions themselves and some of the deeper feelings that Ivy might have that maybe she's afraid to confess to Harley. Now she can do it through the medium of writing letters which feels safer because it's not so immediate. It's a really central part of the story, and the main thing that's keeping Ivy tethered to her own humanity [is] her love for Harley. It's a huge factor in the story.

With how Ivy sees the idea of consciousness within the interconnectivity of plant life, Harley really does feel like someone who reminds Ivy of her individuality.

I think you've really put your finger on it. Ivy sees the plant world as something interconnected, and I think this is true of a lot of characters who are connected with the Green in the DC Universe -- you've got Swamp Thing, the Fluoronic Man, Ivy. I think she sees the plant world less as being individuals [more] than as being interconnected systems. There have been points in her life where she has stopped seeing herself as an individual rather than seeing herself as a part of those systems of interconnected plant life.

I think what her relationship with Harley does is not just remind her of her own humanity but that she is a person with her own personality and destiny that isn't just a part of this interconnected world of natural life. That's a little bit hard for her to deal with, and she said as much in this series. She regrets that the Gardener pulled her out of that Queen Ivy, totally melded with the Green, part of herself because she misses that. Who wouldn't miss having ultimate power?

At the same time, if she stayed in that state as Queen Ivy, she would've eventually lost herself and who Ivy is as she melded with this larger system of plant life in the natural world. I think because Harley values who Ivy is as a person, Ivy still holds on to that part of herself. Otherwise, I think she'd be perfectly happy to leave it behind and just meld with the Green and be one with that world. I think Harley is a very important reminder to her of who she is as a person, not just an extension of the Green.

RELATED: Harley Quinn Loving Breadsticks Doesn't Seem Like Much - But It Is

Poison-Ivy-3-11

What else can you tease as you come off of Poison Ivy #3?

There's a lot of fun stuff in store. We are eventually going to get Harley on-screen and not just in flashbacks and through letters, so people who are waiting for that reunion will be very pleased. There are consequences to some of the things Ivy has been doing that are going to come full circle, and she'll have to deal with. Some of the characters in the background who she thought were dispatched and dealt with are, in fact, as we've seen throughout the book, are not, and she'll have to deal with that.

She's going to come to a crisis within herself about what her mission is, what tactics she's prepared to use, and she's going to have to confront her own origin story in a new and interesting way. We're [bringing] back characters from the depths of Ivy's past. Going forward, there's a lot of really cool stuff in store for the next couple of story arcs that I think people are going to be very excited about. Us on the team are thrilled that we're getting more room to tell the story because Ivy clearly has a lot of fans, and the book has touched on a nerve now that all of us are experiencing the fallout from climate change firsthand. Expect more juicy goodness! [laughs]

Written by G. Willow Wilson and illustrated by Marcio Takara, Poison Ivy #4 goes on sale Sept. 6 from DC Comics.