Warner Bros. and DC Studios have released a new trailer for Clayface, and it reveals a teasing first glimpse of the titular villain's monstrous final form.
When the movie was first announced, there were conflicting reports about which incarnation of the shape-shifting villain the film would focus on. We'd soon learn that it was going to be Matt Hagen, but there was still some confusion, since Creature Commandos had previously introduced a version of the character.
Now, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has confirmed that the sleazy, video game-playing Clayface we met in the HBO Max adult animated series was indeed Matt Hagen.
“Yes, it is the same Clayface," he tells EW, although director James Watkins still sees his movie's protagonist as an amalgam. “We’ve pinched elements from all over the place,” adds the filmmaker.
So, it would follow that Hagen will eventually transform into the monstrous creature from the series, and this will happen in the movie - but this "towering form with gaping mouth and deep, cavernous eyes" will be kept out of all official marketing.
“You don’t want to show the shark,” says Watkins. “I think people give away too much…I believe in the power of mystery and the power of suggestion and the power of people putting two and two together. I think it’s more fun.”
Harries did share his reaction to seeing his character’s final form, however.
“It’s been a year since I saw that thing being built out. I can’t wait for people to see it. I’m constantly in awe of the huge creative machinery that goes into making a film like this, and how talented everybody on board is, and how lucky I felt to be a part of that in any way.”
Batman is not expected to appear, but set photos have featured several nods to the Dark Knight and some of his other villains, including the Joker.
“There are little Easter eggs for those really in the know,” Watkins teases, “but they’re very light sprinklings, whether it’s name references or occasional background references or visual illusions. If you didn’t know this world, you wouldn’t spot them — and they’re not there to pull people out [of the story].”
It seems clear that Clayface is going to be mostly standalone, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If the movie is successful, there's always room to bring Hagen back to confront the DCU's Batman (whoever that turns out to be) down the line.
DC Studios’ first-ever foray into the genre, Clayface is a horror thriller from director James Watkins, starring Tom Rhys Harries in the title role of the Gotham City villain. Clayface unravels one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster in a story that explores the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition.
The film also stars Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James. James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, story by Flanagan, based on characters from DC.
Clayface is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Rafi Crohn, Paul Ritchie, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars P. Winther executive producing.