Back in late January, new DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran announced the first chapter of their new DCEU. Entitled “Gods And Monsters,” the new slate includes films like Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy,” a Batman film in “The Brave And The Bold,” and even a “Booster Gold” movie. Of course, there are some deep-cut characters in the mix, too (as expected with Gunn), with “Swamp Thing” and “The Authority” in the pipeline.
But what about a Clayface movie, a Batman villain who’s never appeared in any live-action film? Deadline reports that “Doctor Sleep” director Mike Flanagan pitched a feature film about the character to DC Studios, but nothing’s come of it yet. Flanagan and his Intrepid Pictures partner Trevor Macy reportedly met with Gunn & Safran about the idea, but it has yet to get the greenlight. On the other hand, DC has yet to say no to the project either.
Deadline says there are conflicting reports on whether Flanagan’s pitch connects with Matt Reeves‘ upcoming “The Batman 2,” set for an October 5, 2025 theatrical release. Some sources say Flanagan’s idea for Clayface is for a standalone feature, while others state that the script for Reeves’ upcoming sequel is constantly changing, and Clayface is a big new addition to that project. So maybe it’s wise to let speculation settle down before any further talk on this.
As for Flanagan, he tweeted yesterday about the project: “Re: CLAYFACE – the news today is entirely speculative. When or if something like that ever becomes real, I promise I’ll tell you guys. :)”. Fair enough: that’s more reasonable than conflicting reports. And who knows if Flanagan and Trevor Macy will have time for a Clayface movie with their new first-look deal with Amazon Studios? They already have an adaptation of Christopher Pike‘s “The Season Of Passage” on the way. Flanagan also has the TV rights to Stephen King‘s “The Dark Tower” series, a dream project for the filmmaker.
But Flanagan’s Clayface idea remains intriguing because it reportedly wouldn’t have the character as a supervillain. In the Batman comics, Clayface debuted as an actor who adopted a horror part he played to commit various crimes. But other iterations of the character brought a shapeshifting element to the villain, with four Clayfaces in all eventually teaming up in the late ’80s as the Mud Pack. But the most famous portrayal of Clayface comes in “Batman: The Animated Series,” which sees actor Matt Hagen tragically become a shapeshifting creature at the hands of corrupt businessman Roland Daggett.
Given the usual flair of Flanagan’s projects, expect him to take a similar tragic tone to Clayface if he ever makes his movie. Flanagan confirmed as much in a 2021 tweet, when he said, “Well I’ve wanted to do a Superman movie since I was a kid, but I would also be really keen to do a standalone Clayface movie as a horror/thriller/tragedy.” But again, everything about this project right now is pure speculation. For Flanagan’s next real project, “The Fall Of The House Of Usher,” a limited series for Netflix, will hit the streamer later this year.