James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-chiefs of DCU, have officially confirmed the much-anticipated Clayface movie, highlighting its canonical status within the DCU and its R rating. Clayface, known for his shape-shifting abilities and criminal past in Gotham City, is one of Batman's most iconic adversaries. The character, first introduced as Basil Karlo in Detective Comics #40 (1940), is set to take center stage in this upcoming film.
DC Studios announced last month that the Clayface movie will hit theaters on September 11, 2026. This decision was influenced by the success of HBO's The Penguin series. The film will be penned by horror maestro Mike Flanagan, with Lynn Harris and Matt Reeves, the director of The Batman, serving as producers.
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During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn and Safran explained why Clayface fits into the broader DCU rather than Matt Reeves' The Batman Epic Crime Saga. "Clayface is totally DCU," Gunn stated. Safran added, "The only thing that's in Matt's world, his Crime Saga that he's telling, is the Batman Trilogy, the Penguin series, that's in that lane. So still under DC Studios, still under us. We have an incredible relationship with Matt, but those are the only things."
Gunn emphasized the importance of including Clayface in the DCU, noting, "It was important that Clayface be part of the DCU. It's an origin story for a classic Batman villain that we want to have in our world." He also mentioned that Clayface wouldn't align with the more grounded nature of Reeves' saga, saying, "It was very outside of the grounded non-super metahuman characters in Matt's world."
Safran revealed that DC Studios is in negotiations with James Watkins, the director of Speak No Evil, to helm the project, which seems to be nearing completion. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer. "This summer, cameras are going to roll on Clayface, an incredible body horror film that reveals a compelling origin of a classic Batman villain, and this is another title that we added to the slate on the strength of an exceptional screenplay by Mike Flanagan," Safran stated.
He further elaborated on the film's unique approach, calling it "experimental" and an "indie style chiller," while Gunn described it as "pure f\*\*\*ing horror, like, totally real. Their version of that movie, it is so real and true and psychological and body horror and gross." Gunn also confirmed the film's R rating, expressing excitement about the project's horror elements and its fit within the DCU.
"I think that one of the things Peter and I talked about when we first got the script is if we were producing movies five years ago when we were doing Belko Experiment and all of that stuff, and somebody had brought us this horror script called Clayface about this guy, we would have died to have produced this movie, because it was just a really excellent body horror script, and the fact that it's in the DCU is just a plus," Gunn added.
