DCU co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran have exciting news for fans, confirming that the upcoming movie "Clayface" will be part of the DCU canon and will carry an R rating. Clayface, a character known for his ability to transform his clay-like body into anyone or anything, is a long-standing adversary of Batman. The original Clayface, Basil Karlo, debuted in Detective Comics #40 back in 1940.
Last month, DC Studios announced that "Clayface" is slated for release on September 11, 2026. The decision to greenlight this project was influenced by the success of HBO's "The Penguin" series. Horror maestro Mike Flanagan will pen the script, while Lynn Harris and "The Batman" director Matt Reeves are set to produce.
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During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn and Safran clarified why "Clayface" fits into the DCU, distinct from Matt Reeves' "The Batman Epic Crime Saga." Gunn stated, “Clayface is totally DCU.” 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."
They emphasized the importance of including Clayface in the DCU, with Gunn 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 further explained that Clayface wouldn't fit within the more grounded narrative 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 currently negotiating with "Speak No Evil" director James Watkins to helm "Clayface," with filming set to commence this summer. He described the film as, “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 also highlighted the unique nature of "Clayface," 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 confirmed the film's R rating, adding, “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.”
