James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-chiefs of DC Studios, have confirmed the upcoming Clayface film as a canon entry within the DC Universe (DCU), boasting an R rating. Clayface, a long-standing Batman adversary with the ability to morph his clay-like body, first appeared as Basil Karlo in Detective Comics #40 (1940). His power to transform into anyone or anything makes him a formidable foe in Gotham City.
DC Studios announced a September 11, 2026, release date for the Clayface movie last month, a decision reportedly influenced by the success of HBO's The Penguin series. Horror maestro Mike Flanagan penned the screenplay, with Lynn Harris producing alongside The Batman director Matt Reeves.
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During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn and Safran explained Clayface's placement within the DCU, differentiating it from Matt Reeves' The Batman Epic Crime Saga. Gunn confirmed, "Clayface is totally DCU." Safran clarified, "The only thing that's in Matt's world...is the Batman Trilogy, the Penguin series...still under DC Studios, but those are the only things. We have an incredible relationship with Matt, but those are the only things."
The decision to include Clayface in the DCU was deliberate: "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," Gunn stated. He further explained that Clayface's tone wouldn't align with the grounded realism of Reeves' saga: "It was very outside of the grounded non-super metahuman characters in Matt's world."
DC Studios is negotiating with James Watkins (Speak No Evil) to direct. Safran announced, "This summer, cameras are going to roll on Clayface, an incredible body horror film...this is another title that we added to the slate on the strength of an exceptional screenplay by Mike Flanagan." He added that casting will begin once the director is confirmed, with a fall 2026 release planned. While acknowledging Clayface's lesser-known status compared to The Penguin or The Joker, Safran emphasized the compelling and terrifying nature of his story.
Throughout the presentation, Safran described Clayface as experimental, differing from traditional superhero films, an "indie style chiller." 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 definitively confirmed the film's R rating.
Gunn further elaborated, "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...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."
