The ending to The Batman sets up many villains, including Two-Face and the Joker, but it also lays the groundwork for the appearance of Poison Ivy.

Warning: SPOILERS for The Batman.

The Batman concludes with the Riddler's destruction of Gotham City, presenting the perfect opportunity to introduce one of Bruce's most iconic villains: Poison Ivy. Dr. Pamela Isley hasn't featured much on the big screen barring one disastrous turn in Joel Schumacher's critically panned Batman and Robin way back in 1997. However, the ending of The Batman presents director Matt Reeves with the perfect opportunity to bring Poison Ivy into the new, gritty universe of Robert Pattinson's Batman.

Matt Reeves' The Batman sees Bruce Wayne battle the Riddler, a serial killer murdering Gotham's elite. In the film's finale, the Riddler successfully floods Gotham City using a set of well-placed explosives hidden in vans as Batman does what he can to rescue the survivors, leading them to safety through several feet of water. As the credits roll, Gotham is devastated, but it has hope in the form of a new hero.

In this way, the catastrophic destruction unleashed on Gotham provides the ideal template for Reeves to explore a grittier interpretation of Poison Ivy. In all of her comic book appearances, Ivy is obsessed with plant life, and she is shown to have control over all vegetation, making her a major threat to the Dark Knight, who has no superpowers to speak of. As such, it makes sense that Ivy would be devastated by the level of destruction brought about against the unwilling victims of the Riddler's assault: innocent animals and plant life. With the Riddler in Arkham Asylum and his admiration of Batman known throughout Gotham, she may turn her anger towards the Caped Crusader himself.

Just as the Riddler in Matt Reeves' The Batman is inspired by realistic movie serial killers such as the primary antagonist of Seven, so could Ivy be inspired by the recent slew of eco-terrorist-style Marvel movie villains who want to destroy civilization to save the Earth (such as Thanos in Avengers: Endgame or Venom's Carlton Drake). In this way, Poison Ivy wouldn't need to have powers to be a threat, instead using the real-life application of plants as a way to create poisons and other weapons to make her equally dangerous.

The Batman toes the line between comic book surrealism and realistic action. However, it is very much influenced by iconic Batman comics like The Long Halloween, a story that sees Poison Ivy play a crucial role as she hypnotizes Bruce Wayne into laundering money. If the sequel to The Batman continues to adapt The Long Halloween (and the power vacuum in the District Attorney's office hinting at Harvey Dent's appearance seems to strongly suggest it is), then it is likely that Ivy would also appear in one form or another.

In his upcoming sequels, Robert Pattinson's Batman will likely have more than the Penguin and the Riddler to contend with. As a result, Poison Ivy may well join the Joker and possibly Harvey Dent in the next film, as Reeves has opened the door for many future antagonists in his new Batman world. The violent attack on Gotham and the realistic tone and use of The Long Halloween as its source material all suggest that Poison Ivy may well prove to be a major threat to Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne in the sequel to The Batman.

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