Sometimes, rumors eventually do come true. After reports from earlier this week that Mike Flanagan‘s Clayface movie based on the iconic Batman villain would finally come to life, DC Studios have officially greenlit the project and set a release date. The horror maestro behind The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep will be penning the script for the production which is set to begin filming next year, though plot details are scarce at this time. It’ll be a minute before it hits the big screen, as DC has slotted the movie in for September 11, 2026, right after the release of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow on June 26.
The origins of Flanagan‘s Clayface idea date back to 2021, when he tweeted that he’d be interested in tackling the shape-shifting villain through a horror/tragedy angle. Though there are multiple incarnations of the character, there’s typically an element of melancholy sprinkled into his backstory. He’s one of Batman’s oldest enemies, with his first incarnation being washed-up actor Basil Karlo, created by comic icons Bill Finger and Bob Kane in 1940, who dons the mask of a horror movie character he once played. Perhaps his most memorable, however, is Matt Hagen, a variant of who appeared in Batman: The Animated Series as an actor disfigured by a horrific accident and transformed into a hulking clay monstrosity after getting addicted to a beauty cream given to him by a corrupt businessman. A few big-name actors have taken up the mantle of Clayface too, including Ron Perlman in TAS and, more recently, Alan Tudyk in Harley Quinn.
Flanagan has earned a ton of trust as a filmmaker after delivering horror hit after hit. The genre master is behind no shortage of acclaimed films like the aforementioned Doctor Sleep and his home invasion thriller Hush, but he’s become best known of late for his work at Netflix from the Haunting series to Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher. His deeply emotional stories have also translated well beyond horror, as seen in his Toronto International Film Festival smash hit adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Life of Chuck. It’s unclear at this point if he’ll be directing Clayface or just writing, considering his busy schedule. After his and Trevor Macy‘s Netflix deal ended, he’s since signed a new deal with Prime Video and has other projects cooking elsewhere, including a new Exorcist movie and a series adaptation of Carrie.
‘Clayface’ Is More Proof That DC Is Casting a Wide Net
When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the DCU, they insisted upon creating a superhero cinematic universe that worked within other genres rather than making everything feel the same. Clayface, which will likely be ripe with Flanagan‘s penchant for emotional horror, is another indication of how that plan will work, and it will have Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris helping as producers. Gunn‘s vision recently kicked off with the widely acclaimed release of his animated series Creature Commandos, which brings laughs with plenty of violence and a shaggy group of heroes reinvented for modern audiences. With other projects in the works surrounding Booster Gold, Swamp Thing, The Authority, and much more, phase one, aka Gods and Monsters, is shaping up to have a superhero-centric project for all viewers.
Clayface begins filming early next year en route to a September 11, 2026, release. The next DC project on the docket is Gunn‘s Superman, which premieres on July 11.
via Collider