DC Studios showed off the more villainous side of the superhero world with “Clayface,” a body horror film featuring one of Batman’s longtime villains. The new film, which is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 23rd, debuted its first trailer at CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie theater owners in Las Vegas.
Tom Rhys Harries plays the shape-shifting villain Clayface (real name Matt Hagen). He starts out as a failed actor with a deformed face, and then undergoes scientific modifications that turn his entire body into clay. The trailer shows Matt sitting in a hospital bed with his face bandaged and covered in blood. He is attacked by a knife-wielding assailant and injected with a mysterious chemical, giving him powers. Matt’s face changes many times, sometimes appearing without eyes or a mouth, and at the last moment sitting in the bathtub wiping his entire face. There’s also a shot of his shadow holding a giant mace-shaped fist, similar to how he punches Batman in DC Comics.
James Watkins, who last directed the English-language remake of the 2024 horror film Speak No Evil, will helm the film. The cast also includes Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, and David Dencik.
Clayface first appeared in the 1940 issue of Detective Comics, and several characters have taken on the nickname and battled Batman in countless comics and several animated shows. He has appeared in episodes of live-action TV’s “Gotham,” “Pennyworth,” and “Birds of Prey,” as well as animated shows such as “Harley Quinn,” “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “Young Justice” and “Batman: The Caped Crusader.”
The rebooted DC Universe soared last year with James Gunn’s Superman, and will follow that up this summer with Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl. Next up, the “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorrow” will be released on July 9, 2027, and Matt Reeves’ “The Batman: Part II” will be released on October 1, 2027.
