‘Gotham’ Season 4 Spoilers: EP Explains Why They Recast Ivy Again

Everybody was shocked when Clare Foley was replaced as Ivy Pepper by Maggie Geha in “Gotham” Season 3. But when producers explained it was necessary in the storyline to have a grown-up Ivy, fans finally accepted the new character.

This Season 4, another change is expected from Ivy as Geha was replaced by Peyton List. Fans cannot understand why the actress had to be replaced again, since Geha and List are close in age.

In order to shed light in the matter, executive producer Bryan Wynbrandt talked to Comic Book. “The change was all based on the idea that she’s continuing to evolve to become more of the Ivy from the comic books and what we really enjoyed,” he said. “What’s been really cool about her character, and Maggie was so great, was you had Clare [Foley] for the first iteration be the child who is trying to find her way in the world. Then when she evolves into the second iteration of Ivy played by Maggie. She is amazing and embodied sort of a fun kind of comic and zany quality to her who then starts to see that she wasn't being respected so she wanted to do something about that.”

But after consuming poison, Ivy is no longer funny and zany. Wynbrandt said she’s a force to be reckoned with, so they needed a new face for the character.

“In this third evolution you're going to see a really self possessed, really scary and driven version of the Ivy character, who is intent on kind of making the world in the image she sees it should be, which is the green world. The world where the plants rule and people are an after thought,” he said.

In a different interview with SYFY WIRE, Wynbrandt explained that transformation is a thematic element in their show, and what they’re doing to Ivy coincides with it. “One of the things we love about our show and our great cast is that we can constantly evolve their characters in interesting and dynamic ways,” he said.

“Gotham” Season 4 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.