One of Batman's most underrated villains is getting his own movie, and fans are freaking out over the terrifying teaser trailer. On Wednesday, DC Studios released footage from its forthcoming horror-thriller Clayface, which marks the DC Universe's first foray into the scary movie genre. The movie was adapted from the comic book story of Matt Hagen — a struggling actor who undergoes a risky surgery after being mutilated in an attack, only to be transformed into a shape-shifting mutant made of clay.
Fans were simultaneously horrified and hypnotized by the first-look trailer, which teased daunting body horror, creepy music and a nightmarish close-up image of the titular character, played by Tom Rhys Harries, laying in a hospital bed with a bloody, bandaged face with the caption, “Look fear in the face.” One snippet showed a shadow of the character transforming his arm into a giant spiked mace, while another clip revealed Hagen laying in a bathtub as his face melts.
“Clayface looks absolutely incredible,” one DC fan wrote on X. “A truly scary spin on one of Batman's coolest villains. Absolutely love how the transformation of his skin looks so frightening and painful. This is precisely what I wanted from this new DC universe.” Another agreed, “I ALREADY LOVE THIS! I love how tonally different this feels compared to other DCU projects we've seen so far as this truly feels like a horror movie with a dark and serious tone just with Clayface as this has the potential to be DC's equivalent of The Substance.”
One wrote in the YouTube comments on the footage: “The opening shot of him staring straight at you with a single bloodshot eye is immediately unsettling.” The studio brought in some horror legends for the job. It was directed by James Watkins, who is behind movies like Speak No Evil and The Woman In Black, and co-written by Mike Flanagan, who is known for Doctor Sleep and The Haunting of Hill House, and Hossein Amini. The film stars actors Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, David Dencik and Eddie Marsan.
DC Studios co-chief James Gunn previously said there were no plans for a movie about Clayface, but changed his mind after Flanagan and Amini turned in “one of the best scripts that we've read,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Gunn produced the movie alongside his co-chief Peter Safran, The Batman director Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris. Clayface is scheduled to premiere in theaters October 23.
