Clayface: 5 Burning Questions We Have About the DCU Movie

Warner Bros. has a engaged twelvemonth planned for the fledgling DCU successful 2026. Not lone are we getting the Supergirl movie and the Lanterns bid connected HBO, but we tin besides look guardant to a precise antithetic benignant of superhero task successful the signifier of Clayface, a acheronian assemblage fearfulness movie focused connected the titular Batman villain. And present we’ve gotten our archetypal bully look astatine Clayface, with the workplace releasing the archetypal teaser trailer for the movie online.

Naturally, determination are a batch of questions surrounding this caller DCU movie, not the slightest of which being - wherever is Batman? Are we truly going to bash a task acceptable successful Gotham City without the Dark Knight? Is this movie conscionable doomed to repetition the mistakes of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe? Let’s research these and different burning questions surrounding Clayface arsenic we hold for the movie to deed theaters successful October 2026.

Why Did They Go With the Matt Hagen Version of Clayface?

Comic publication fans volition cognize that determination person been a large galore characters to deterioration the mantle of Clayface implicit the decades. They adjacent precocious formed a supervillain squad unneurotic called the Fraternity of Mud. But the Clayface movie doesn’t absorption connected the archetypal and best-known incarnation of Clayface, Basil Karlo. Instead, prima Tom Rhys Harries has been formed arsenic the 2nd Clayface, Matt Hagen.

In the comics, Hagen is depicted arsenic a treasure huntsman who discovers a excavation of radioactive protoplasm successful a cave. Bathing successful the excavation temporarily grants Hagen the quality to reshape his body. Naturally, Hagen turns to a beingness of transgression and becomes the 2nd Clayface.

Hagen is astir notable not for his comic publication appearances, but for his recurring relation successful Batman: The Animated Series. That cartoon reworked the quality significantly, drafting successful elements of the Basil Karlo mentation of the quality and depicting Hagen arsenic an histrion who is disfigured successful an accident. Hagen is fixed an experimental quality pick called Renuyu by crooked businessman Roland Daggett, but aft being force-fed monolithic amounts of Renuyu, Daggett transforms into Clayface.

The trailer makes it wide that the movie is drafting its inspiration much from the animated bid than the comics.“

The trailer makes it wide that the movie is drafting its inspiration much from the animated bid than the comics. Based connected the constricted crippled descriptions released truthful far, we cognize that Harries’ Matt Hagen is not a treasure hunter, but an up-and-coming histrion whose look is disfigured aft a run-in with the Gotham mob. With his vocation successful shambles, Hagen turns to extremist idiosyncratic Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), who uses her probe to alteration him into a being of surviving clay. It appears that we’ll spot Hagen effort to cling to his humanity adjacent arsenic helium uses his newfound powers to punish those who wronged him.

We person to wonderment wherefore writers Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini and manager James Watkins specifically landed connected Hagen arsenic the protagonist of this story. Why not the archetypal Clayface, Basil Karlo, oregon 1 of the galore Clayfaces who came later? Is it simply a question of designation factor? Clayface’s Batman: The Animated Series quality was the villain’s existent mainstream breakout, truthful it does marque consciousness to thin connected that story. But is that each determination is to it, oregon is determination thing astir Hagen’s property oregon backstory that makes him the champion acceptable for this movie?

It’s besides worthy wondering however the movie mightiness necktie into James Gunn’s Creature Commandos animated series. That’s wherever Clayface technically already made his DCU debut (voiced determination by Alan Tudyk). That bid besides specifically featured the Matt Hagen mentation of Clayface alternatively than 1 of the galore different versions of the villain, truthful there’s intelligibly a crushed the DCU is focused connected him.

Will Batman Appear astatine All?

Clayface has the dubious grant of being a Batman-adjacent movie that seemingly won’t diagnostic the Dark Knight himself. That’s due to the fact that it’s hitting theaters years up of the debut of the authoritative DCU mentation of Batman, which volition hap successful Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Until that movie defines the look and property of Batman and really introduces the adjacent histrion playing Bruce Wayne, these aboriginal DCU projects are beauteous constricted successful however they tin marque usage of the character.

The deficiency of Batman successful a Gotham City-based fearfulness movie could easy upwind up moving against the movie (and we’ll get much into that successful a bit), but should we presume the quality won’t look astatine all? Is it imaginable we’ll get immoderate benignant of Bat-cameo? We surely anticipation so, due to the fact that it seems bizarre not to diagnostic Batman astatine each successful a communicative astir the root of 1 of his large villains. What does it accidental astir his detective skills if Batman doesn’t respond to the emergence of a super-powered being wreaking havoc connected the transgression underworld?

Creature Commandos showed america 1 enactment for including Batman. The Caped Crusader appears successful a azygous changeable during Season 1, soundless and heavy silhouetted but instantly recognizable each the same. Ideally, Clayface tin bash thing similar. It’s astir apt excessively overmuch to anticipation that this movie volition service arsenic the stealth debut of The Brave and the Bold’s Batman actor, but we tin astatine slightest get a stunt treble successful a Batsuit to punctual america that the Dark Knight is retired determination and maintaining a watchful oculus implicit his city.

Sometimes, that’s each you truly request successful a Batman story. Clayface could gully inspiration from a comic similar Gotham Central, which focuses connected the men and women of the GCPD alternatively than Batman himself. There, the Dark Knight’s appearances are fewer and acold between, and he’s treated much similar a chilling unit of quality looming implicit the much grounded events of the communicative astatine hand.

Will Other Gotham City Characters Appear?

We shouldn’t beryllium expecting much, if any, beingness from Batman successful the Clayface movie, but what astir the different denizens of Gotham City? As we’ve seen from erstwhile DCU projects similar Superman and Creature Commandos, this shared beingness already has a well-established formed of heroes and villains. Superman himself has been progressive for implicit 3 years now, and immoderate characters (like Kyle Chandler’s Green Lantern) person been astir for acold longer.

It stands to crushed that the aforesaid holds existent for Gotham, and that Batman has a developed supporting formed and rogues assemblage by now. Surely immoderate of them person the imaginable to look successful Clayface, right?

For now, we lone person confirmation of 2 different characters successful the film, and some look to beryllium archetypal creations. As mentioned, Ackie is playing Dr. Corr, and Max Minghella is playing Bates’ boyfriend, an as-yet-unnamed GCPD cop. The formed besides includes Eddie Marsan, David Dencik, and Emily Florence, but we don’t cognize which characters they’re playing yet.

It’s imaginable that astir of the film’s main formed volition beryllium caller characters alternatively than ones drawn from the comics, but we’d similar to deliberation that there’s immoderate country to see a fewer acquainted faces from the satellite of Gotham. If Minghella is playing a GCPD cop, that leaves country to see colleagues similar Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, oregon adjacent Commissioner Gordon. We could spot acquainted gangsters similar Sal Maroni oregon corrupt businessmen similar Roland Daggett.

And what of the different Bat-villains? The trailer suggests we’ll astatine slightest spot immoderate Easter eggs and nods to these characters. One changeable shows Hagen walking distant from a motion advertizing the circus, truthful intelligibly the movie is evoking the Joker (or perchance Dick Grayson) here. There’s plentifulness of country to amusement disconnected different Gotham landmarks similar the Iceberg Lounge oregon see henchmen from gangs serving villains similar Two-Face and the Riddler. Anything to make the consciousness that this is simply a mentation of Gotham with a thriving transgression underworld.

That said, James Gunn himself has said not to work excessively overmuch into the sets successful Clayface. Gunn told IGN that the movie isn’t needfully an indicator of wherever things are heading with The Brave and the Bold and different aboriginal Batman-related projects, saying, “We person a guy, Phil, who is present successful complaint of the DCU Bible of keeping everything accordant and making definite that the cities are the aforesaid and the maps are the aforesaid and the celebrities are the same, each the worldly that they request to support consistent. And I don't deliberation he's OK’d each the creation section worldly connected that movie.

Why Is This a DCU Movie?

Given the limitations looming implicit Clayface due to the fact that of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, we person to wonderment wherefore Gunn opted to greenlight a Batman spinoff successful the DCU earlier Batman has been established. Why specifically necktie the task to the DCU alternatively than, say, Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe? Why not travel the illustration of 2019’s Joker and acceptable the movie successful a wholly standalone DC Universe? It surely worked for Joker (the archetypal time, anyway).

In the lawsuit of Reeves’ The Batman universe, we person to presume the manager wasn’t anxious to let others to play successful that sandbox. Reeves seems to specifically privation to person his own, self-contained satellite to enactment with, escaped from the constraints of the larger DCU, and adding spinoffs from different writers and directors lone muddies the waters. Plus, The Batman is astir arsenic grounded arsenic it gets for the franchise, and we don’t cognize that this beingness has country for morganatic metahuman characters similar Clayface.

That inactive leaves the question of wherefore Clayface is specifically a DCU movie and not a Joker-style standalone project. We can’t ideate this movie is going to lend importantly to the larger communicative of the DCU, and going the standalone way would escaped it from the constraints imposed by being a cog successful a overmuch much analyzable machine. That way would let the filmmakers to see Batman and his different rogues without worrying astir stepping connected the toes of The Brave and the Bold.

Maybe the disastrous reception to 2024’s Joker: Folie à Deux has soured the workplace connected the imaginable of different standalone, Batman-adjacent film. Maybe they presume the ties to the larger DCU volition pull a wider assemblage who mightiness different disregard an R-rated fearfulness movie. Or possibly Clayface is much important to the DCU puzzle than we realize. This opening signifier is called “Gods and Monsters,” aft all.

Can Warner Bros. Succeed Where Sony’s Spider-Man Villain Spinoffs Have Failed?

It’s intolerable not to gully comparisons betwixt Clayface and Sony’s caller slate of Spider-Man spinoff movies similar the Venom trilogy, Morbius, and Kraven the Hunter. In some cases, you person a fashionable superhero franchise wherever the absorption shifts from the main leader to 1 of his villains. That villain is the taxable of an root communicative movie wherever the leader plays small to nary role.

It’s hard to reason that this attack has worked precise good for Sony, astatine slightest implicit the agelong term. 2018’s Venom whitethorn person been a hit, but the sequels were a wide lawsuit of diminishing returns. And the remainder of the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe harvest person been some captious and commercialized duds. It’s gotten atrocious capable that Sony is looking astatine rebooting the full enterprise.

With Clayface, tin Warner Bros. genuinely win wherever Sony failed? That’s astir apt the biggest question surrounding this task aft the full “Is Batman successful it?” thing. Audiences don’t look to person overmuch tolerance for these superhero spinoffs that deficiency the heroes successful question.

Audiences don’t look to person overmuch tolerance for these superhero spinoffs that deficiency the heroes successful question.“

On the different hand, let’s not unreal the deficiency of Spider-Man was the lone happening bogging down films similar Morbius and Kraven the Hunter. Yes, the astir full deficiency of Peter Parker was frustrating, but these films besides had deep, cardinal storytelling problems beyond the deficiency of Spider-Man. As unusual arsenic the imaginable of a Clayface solo movie without Batman whitethorn seem, a bully movie is simply a bully movie. If the prime is there, and Clayface delivers connected the assemblage fearfulness front, audiences whitethorn happily excuse the lack of Batman.

Do you deliberation a Clayface movie tin enactment without Batman? Let america cognize your thoughts successful the comments below. And for much connected DC’s cinematic future, brushwood up connected each DC movie and bid successful development.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.