New details about the Clayface movie have emerged, as it reveals a crucial setting for the DC Universe horror entry.
In a response on Threads, as a user asked James Gunn, “Is clayface set before superman or after?” as the DC Studios co-CEO confirmed that the 2026 installment takes place prior to the events of 2025’s Superman, saying, “Before. It’s the first DCU film out of chronological order.” Prior to this reveal, it had never been specified where James Watkins’ horror story fits into the overall franchise.
Gunn’s response raises another huge question that has been surrounding the Clayface movie, as viewers caught the villain in the animated Creature Commandos TV show, which was the first project to be released from the DCU back in 2024. The series, which has been picked up for another season, takes place before Superman, which is how they explained Rick Flag Sr.’s later role in Peacemaker season 2.
Even though Clayface showed up in Creature Commandos season 1, there have been numerous characters to go with that mantle in the DC canon, and it has actually never been specified which one was used in the HBO Max series. If it were the Matt Hagen version of Clayface, it would mean the movie takes place before the TV show. But the incarnation who was in the animated project is more than likely going to be someone other than Tom Rhys Harries’ character.
After the release of the Clayface trailer, the Creature Commandos character and Matt don’t feel like the same person at all, and it’s crucial to remember that when Gunn’s HBO Max show was first in development, the film had not been greenlit. Despite the mud-monster seen in the animated project being electrofied, Gunn has also teased that whoever this is is not necessarily dead, after the following post on BSky in 2025:
It’s always possible that Clayface’s DCU connections with Creature Commandos will be somehow justified, unless Gunn makes a follow-up response declaring whether or not Harries’ Matt is the one who showed up in the first season. Given how the Mike Flannagan-written entry has its place in the DCU timeline, it also means that it takes place long before DC Studios’ upcoming Batman reboot, The Brave and The Bold.
Since Clayface is the origin story of how Matt becomes the iconic shape-shifter, he will not have faced the Dark Knight, who will not show up in the solo film this fall. However, the plot is set in Gotham City, meaning that the Caped Crusader could, at the very least, be referenced or alluded to, just without the character himself actually being there.
During principal photography, various Easter eggs to the larger Batman mythology were spotted, including the Joker and Dick Grayson’s family. Given how Bruce Wayne has been operating as the iconic Gotham City crimefighter for years, it’s not a shock that many aspects of his lore, including villains and allies, are also further fleshed out at this time.
Clayface opens in theaters on October 23, and Superman is available through streaming and home media release.
