DC Studios has released the last trailer for Clayface ahead of the film’s theatrical debut next month, offering a closer look at Hagen’s horrifying transformation from rising Hollywood star to the shape-shifting monster DC fans know from the comics.
We even get a gnarly little tease of what Clayface eventually becomes, though his complete final form remains hidden. That restraint fits what this movie appears to be going for.
Rather than stuffing the story with DC cameos and Easter Eggs, Clayface is an R-rated body-horror movie set in Gotham City that largely exists apart from the bigger events unfolding across the DCU.
Batman won’t appear, though Bruce Wayne is reportedly mentioned. The film is also expected to shed some light on Clayface’s place in Creature Commandos, giving it an important connection to the larger universe without turning the movie into a commercial for whatever comes next.
DC Studios is reportedly saving Clayface’s full monster design for theaters. The final trailer does offer a taste of the transformation, and what we see looks appropriately grotesque.
Hopefully the movie doesn’t wait until its final few minutes to give us the Clayface fans came to see. Otherwise, it could invite some “Surf Dracula” comparisons, a term used for stories that hold back their core premise for most of the runtime.
At the same time, a gradual transformation makes plenty of sense for this particular story. Matt’s physical deterioration is part of the tragedy, and watching his body change along with his deteriorating grip on reality could make for some seriously jacked-up horror.
Tom Rhys Harries, who stars as Matt Hagen, has already offered a pretty encouraging description of the character’s eventual appearance, calling Clayface’s final form “f***ing sick,” adding, “I’d have family members or friends of mine who, after time, normalise the fact that they’re talking to me but half my face is disintegrating, and then they would introduce me to somebody on FaceTime. That was funny!”
In Clayface, Matt Hagen begins as a kid from the streets of Gotham who manages to claw his way to Hollywood stardom. His career and life are destroyed when the actions of a local crime boss leave him horribly disfigured.
With his team abandoning him and his future seemingly gone, Matt turns to an experimental treatment that restores his appearance. Unfortunately, the treatment comes with one hell of a side effect.
As Matt returns to his former self physically, his connection to reality begins to fracture. His anger and desperation eventually consume him, sending him down a path of revenge that transforms him into one of Gotham City’s most recognizable monsters.
Harries leads the cast alongside Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll, and Joshua James.
James Watkins directs the film from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, with Flanagan also receiving a “Story by” credit.
I’ve got high hopes for Clayface. Turning this character into an R-rated body-horror tragedy is such a cool way to bring him into the DCU, and I really want this movie to deliver.
My biggest hope is that whatever changes were made during production didn’t break the script Flanagan originally wrote. He’s exactly the kind of storyteller I’d want tackling the tragedy and horror of Clayface.
If they nailed that part and Watkins delivers on the gruesome transformation teased in this trailer, Clayface could be one of the more interesting DC movies we’ve seen in a while.
Clayface hits theaters October 23.
