Matt Reeves and Mike Flanagan were developing a Clayface movie before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios (the co-CEOs started in November 2022).
After The Batman, Reeves wanted to explore origin stories for Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery through standalone genre films. Reeves was particularly interested in developing smaller-scale horror movies centered on Batman villains.
During a recent interview with Reeves, one of the producers of Clayface (via Batman News), Reeves said that Flanagan approached him with the idea of a horror story featuring Clayface, inspired in part by the character’s portrayal in the animated series. Reeves was already interested in developing smaller-scale horror movies centered on Batman villains.
The Clayface project gradually developed into a tragic love story blending body horror and thriller elements, with Reeves describing it as “The Fly meets this horror thriller.” Gunn and Safran loved the concept and wanted to make Clayface one of the movies in the DC Universe (DCU).
Reeves said, “After The Batman, I was very excited about this idea. The Batman was not a Batman origin story, but what it did—because it was his first appearance in the city—it was an entrée into origin stories for the Rogues’ Gallery. After the movie, when we started working on the script for the next Batman, we began thinking it’d be really exciting to develop a bunch of stories that could be genre stories that related to the Rogues’ Gallery characters and explore their origins. And one of the things I got very excited about was the idea of looking for ways to do really cool, smaller horror films.”
Reeves added, “And [screenwriter] Mike Flanagan came to me and said he had been a huge fan of Clayface—especially the iteration that came from the animated series—and had a passion about doing a horror story with Clayface at the core. So, we started developing it. And as that story started coming together, becoming this sort of tragic love story—The Fly meets this horror thriller—James [Gunn] and Peter [Safran] took over DC Studios, and that was one of the first things we pitched to them. They loved it so much, they wanted to make it one of the DCU movies. And we got very excited about the idea of taking this story into the DCU.”
Speaking to ComicBookMovie.com’s Josh Wilding, Flanagan made it clear that Clayface now belongs to James Watkins.
Flanagan said, “I wrote a script I loved and I turned it in and then that’s the last… I haven’t even seen it. I’m excited to see it and see what James did with it.”
He added, “I’m trying so hard. Yeah. Believe me, I’m not the one standing in its way. I promise. But yes, that’s my sincere, sincere hope. Yeah.”
According to the first reactions following the world premiere, Clayface is a “shocking body horror” that will win over both comic book fans and horror fans, while others describe the production as “everything you asked for” in a villain movie.
Recently, Gunn confirmed that Clayface will return in the DCU.
He said, “This [movie] isn’t the last we’ll see of Clayface. And I can’t wait for you guys to see what we do with him.”
Here’s the synopsis for Clayface:
Once the world’s most beloved actor, Matt Hagen’s (Tom Rhys Harries) glamorous life is shattered when a forbidden affair with a Gotham City mob boss’s wife leads to his brutal disfigurement. Desperate to reclaim his shattered identity and his prized looks, Matt turns to a mysterious female doctor who administers an experimental underground drug. However, the miracle cure comes with a horrifying price: Triggered by deep sorrow, trauma, and fits of rage, Matt’s face begins to melt, slowly transforming him into a monstrous entity.
Now a fugitive hunted by the government after taking violent revenge on the mobsters who ruined his life, Matt’s grip on sanity begins to slip. He forms a twisted, obsessive bond with the doctor who treated him, eliminating anyone who stands in their way—including her husband. As she realizes the horrifying consequences of her experiment and attempts to stop him once and for all, Matt survives, setting the stage for a dark, tragic psychological thriller about vanity, heartbreak, and deadly obsession.
Watkins directs from a screenplay by Flanagan and Hossein Amini, with a story by Flanagan, based on characters from DC. The film is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, Gunn, and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Rafi Crohn, Paul Ritchie, Chantal Nong Vo, and Lars P. Winther serving as executive producers.
The film also stars Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James.
DC Studios presents, in association with Domain Entertainment, a 6th & Idaho Production, a James Watkins film, Clayface.
Clayface will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and released only in theaters and IMAX in North America on October 23, 2026, and internationally beginning October 21, 2026.
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