Clayface is officially in the works, and the upcoming DC movie already has a few juicy details that prove it could be one of the studio’s most unusual projects yet.
While most are gearing up for The Batman 2 in 2026, the powers that be are also focused on getting another Gotham villain flick off the ground. That honor goes to the comic book baddie known as Clayface, and despite not having a director or cast, the solo movie’s release date is already locked in.
With a horror master penning the script and the full force of DC‘s creative team behind the project, there’s lots of reasons to get exited about this supervillain tale.
Read on to find out everything there is to know about the Clayface movie, from the release date to potential storylines.
Clayface release date
Clayface will be released in theaters on September 11, 2026.
It’s set to go into production during 2025. The release date was announced on December 13, making it one of four upcoming DC movies slated to arrive that year.
So far, the 2026 DC roster consists of an untitled project on May 29, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow on June 26, Clayface on September 11, and The Batman 2 on October 2.
Exciting news out of @DCOfficial Studios today as #Clayface, a DCU story from a script by Mike Flanagan, has been OFFICIALLY greenlit. Clayface premieres in 2026.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 13, 2024
Who’s making Clayface?
While no director or star has been confirmed for Clayface, the movie is being written by Mike Flanagan.
According to reports, the Clayface movie has been in development for around two years, and Flanagan’s been on board from the beginning.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Flanagan stuck around to direct, since the Netflix horror mastermind wrote a now-deleted post on X talking about the possibility of making a Clayface movie all the way back in 2021. He even cited that he would approach the project as a “horror/thriller/tragedy.”
Given his background in gut-wrenching horror shows and movies (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, and Midnight Mass, to name a few), Flanagan has all the right expertise.
James Gunn and Peter Safran will produce, as well as Lynn Harris and The Batman’s Matt Reeves.
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Will Clayface be in The Batman 2?
The Batman 2 script hasn’t even been written yet, so there’s no way of knowing right now if Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne will be going up against Clayface.
Reeves’ involvement with the Clayface movie (plus a release date so close to The Batman 2) kicked off speculation about whether Clayface would make an appearance in the superhero sequel alongside The Scarecrow.
Gunn, however, shut down these rumors in a reply to a question on Threads, writing, “Firstly, no. Secondly, couldn’t be the case as there hasn’t yet been a first draft of a script.”
There’s a whole slate of untapped villains in Reeves’ version of Gotham, and Clayface is just one of the many possibilities. However, given how the Penguin and Joker are already established in that world, it’s more than likely to focus on them.
Plot speculation
There’s been no official synopsis or plot details released for Clayface, but based on Flanagan’s early concept, it’s looking like it’ll take the horror route.
Flanagan already said he’d like to do a “horror/thriller/tragedy,” and since Batman will be busy in his 2026 sequel battling the as-of-yet unspecified villain, it seems as though Clayface’s movie could be a Joker-style origin story.
Clayface was first introduced in DC comics in 1940. He was originally Basil Karlo, a B-list actor who took on the alias of a villain he’d played in a horror movie. Later, he was Matthew Hagen, a treasure hunter who was exposed to a pool of radioactive protoplasm.
That’s just two versions of the character – there’s eight in total. After Hagen, the next person to take up the Clayface mantle was Preston Payne, a scientist who tried to cure his hyperpituitarism with Hagen’s blood, becoming a clay creature in the process. Then it was Sondra Fuller, Lady Clay, who used the technology of Strike Force Kobra to become Clayface and form the group known as the Mud Pack.
The fifth Clayface was Cassius “Clay” Payne, the son of Payne and Fuller, who inherited their shapeshifting abilities. After him came Peter “Clay-Thing” Malley, who gets his powers after being merged with a skin sample from Cassius Payne; Todd Russell, who has no memory of who he is and goes up against Catwoman; and Johnny Williams, a former firefighter who gets caught in a chemical plant explosion.
Each version of the character has been equally “tragic” in their own right, with every one of them fitting Flanagan’s bill. If the upcoming DC movie definitely ends up being a horror, then they may opt to go with the original Basil Karlo, a fictional horror star turned villain.
For more, find out how to watch all the Batman movies. You can also take a look at the other best supervillains of all time, and see what’s happening with James Gunn’s Superman movie.
