James Gunn’s DCU is going full-on body horror in the upcoming villain spin-off Clayface. While the former MCU director has stated several times that this newly emerging DC universe will take chances and create different kinds of comic book movies, Clayface is by far the biggest clue that he’s keeping to his word. The upcoming Batman spin-off, which is set to release in theaters on Oct. 23, unleashed its first trailer at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, offering our first look at Tom Rhys Harries as the shape-shifting monster.
In the comics, Clayface has had several different iterations, with the first being a serial-killing actor who was first introduced in “Detective Comics” #40 back in June 1940. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the supervillain underwent a major transformation in “Detective Comics” #298 in December 1961, with the latter shape-shifting version the one that many are most familiar with.
And this is the version that Tom Rhys Harries will portray in the upcoming Clayface movie, with footage shown at CinemaCon revealing that he will play Matt Hagen, “a struggling actor whose face is disfigured and then undergoes a scientific transformation that turns his body entirely into clay,” via Variety. Any concerns that Clayface would shy away from the body horror potential of the character can now rest easy, as the footage begins with Matt in hospital and sporting the bloody, bandaged face that we’ve previously seen in set images. Then things get weird.
“He’s attacked by a knife-wielding assailant and has mysterious chemicals pumped into him, giving him his powers,” the description of the trailer reveals, with Matt’s face changing repeatedly, “showing him without an eye or mouth at times, and in the final moments he’s sitting in a bathtub and wipes away his entire face.” Not only that, the movie also teases the villain’s penchant for destruction, with “a shadowy shot of him with a giant, mace-shaped fist,” being reminiscent of both the comics and Batman: The Animated Series, which the movie seems to be taking a lot of inspiration from.
Speak No Evil and Eden Lake director James Watkins takes the helm of Clayface, with a script from Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Hossein Amini and The Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan. The rest of the cast includes Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan and David Dencik, with Clayface all set to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on Oct. 23, 2026, as part of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.
- Release Date
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October 23, 2026
- Director
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James Watkins
