If “Clayface” is any indication of what the DCU’s Batman villains will look like, the Dark Knight may be having some dark nightmares coming.
DC Studios and Warner Bros. released the first trailer for “Clayface” on Wednesday, just one week after the footage premiered at CinemaCon. The trailer shows a darker horror tone than fans are used to seeing in the DC universe, leaning fully into the disturbing nature of this Batman villain’s powers.
The movie stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor on the brink of finally getting his big break. When a gangster leaves Hagen horribly disfigured, however, he seeks a transformative treatment that gives him far more than he bargained for.
The trailer shows disturbing imagery of Hagen hospitalized after the violent attack, intercut with his life as a star. Things start spiraling out of control as he apparently begins to lose a grip on his powers, with his face and body losing their constitution. The footage ends with Hagen in a bathtub, struggling to keep himself together, before showing a shot where his face is completely featureless.
James Watkins directs “Clayface” with a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Joining Harries in the cast are Naomi Ackie and Max Minghella.
The film marks only the third endeavor in the fledgling DC Universe after “Superman” and this summer’s upcoming “Supergirl.” It’s a bold bet, following up two of DC’s premiere heroes with a solo film dedicated to Batman villain many audiences may be unfamiliar with — and a horror movie, at that.
Clayface, one of the more significant villains in Batman’s rogues’ gallery, first appeared in Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s “Detective Comics #40” from 1940. That issue featured Basil Karlo, the first and probably most prominent incarnation of the character. Karlo is also the version of Clayface that is most prominently an actor, baked into his origin from the beginning.
It wasn’t until 1961’s “Detective Comics #298,” written by Finger and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, that Matt Hagen, the second Clayface, would come around. In that story, Hagen was a treasure hunter given shapeshifting powers by a radioactive pool he stumbles upon in a cave. There would be several other versions of Clayface from there, including Preston Payne, Sondra Fuller, Cassius “Clay” Payne (the son of Preston and Sondra) and Todd Russell.
To this point, Clayface has yet to be rendered in a live-action film, making him one of the most prominent Batman villains to go untouched. Despite being less popular than villains like Scarecrow and Two-Face, Clayface will be the third Batman antagonist to get his own solo film following Joker and Catwoman (or fourth, if you count “Birds of Prey” as a Harley Quinn feature). He also follows in the footsteps of The Penguin, who recently got his own gritty starring project in the form of an Emmy-winning HBO series.
“Clayface” cements itself into theaters on Oct. 23
