Sony couldn’t make its villain-centric comic book movies work, but maybe DC Studios can.
We’ll see whether a classic member of Batman’s colorful rogues’ gallery can hold their own when director James Watkins’ Clayface opens on the big screen.
Horror titan Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) came up with the film’s story, which became a screenplay credited to him and Hossein Amini (Drive, 47 Ronin).
Watkins, meanwhile, proved himself more than capable of tackling a major studio-backed genre picture with Universal’s 2024 English-language remake of Speak No Evil. In fact, Clayface feels like a natural progression from that movie’s theme of ill-intentioned people who mold their outer selves in an effort to do harm.
What is Clayface Movie About?
Poised as a body horror offering set in the DC Universe, Clayface follows A-list actor and Gotham City native Matt Hagen (Thom Rhys Harries) whose promising Hollywood career is cut short when a local crime boss decides to carve up his face.
Desperate to get his life back and exact revenge on the people who disfigured him, Hagen agrees to an experimental procedure on the fringes of traditional medicine. It miraculously restores his handsome good looks, but also transforms him into a walking hunk of wet clay meets melted wax.
“Like Seth Brundle, Matt Hagen’s ‘superpowers’ are also the source of the horror,” Watkins told Empire magazine, referencing the Jeff Goldblum character in David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly. “His body is changing. His mind is unstable. He’s not sure what is happening to him. For me, the best horror isn’t just clockwork jump-scares, but has a human dimension and emotional truth that gets under your skin. Matt struggles with the inherent fear we all have of not being in control.”
Is Clayface Set in Robert Pattinson The Batman Universe?
No, Clayface inhabits the same DC Universe as Superman, Supergirl, Lanterns, Creature Commandoes and Peacemaker season two.
With that said, The Batman writer-director Matt Reeves is a producer on Clayface alongside Lynn Harris, James Gunn, Peter Safran. Michael E. Uslan, Chantal Nong Vo, Lars P. Winther, Paul Ritchie, Rafi Crohn and Trevor Macy are executive producers.
Still, there’s also a question of who will be cast as Bruce Wayne and his nocturnal alter ego in the mainstream continuity’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold movie from writer Christina Hodson and director Andy Muschietti. You can’t have Clayface prowling the streets of Gotham with no Dark Knight to fight him at some point down the road.
When Empire brought up the topic, Harries replied, “I can’t really talk about that.”
Watkins also clammed up, instead shifting the focus to the childlike joy of getting to create a new version of Gotham from the ground up.
“You don’t realize the fun until you start getting into the weeds,” he explained. “We’d be going, ‘Oh man, we’ve got to design the police cars,’ or, ‘We’ve got to design the police uniform,’ or the badges. There are so many Easter eggs in the movie.”
Who Stars in Clayface Movie?
Thom Rhys Harries (White Lines) leads the project as the titular actor-turned-metamorphosing-villain.
Supporting players include Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) as Dr. Caitlyn Corr, who treats Hagen via experimental means, and Max Minghella (The Social Network) as Gotham City detective and Corr’s fiancé, John Borrelli.
David Dencik (No Time to Die), Eddie Marsan (Deadpool 2), Nancy Carroll (Father Brown) and Joshua James (Andor) have been cast in undisclosed roles.
When Does The Clayface Movie Come Out?
Clayface arrives on the big screen Friday, Oct. 23. Tickets are not yet on sale.
What is The Clayface Movie Rated?
The film is rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity and brief drug use.
