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DC Studios just dropped the first trailer for Clayface, and it’s giving fans a much clearer picture of what James Gunn’s DCU has in store next. This one marks the third film in the rebooted universe, following last summer’s Superman and the box office disappointment that was Supergirl earlier this year.
James Watkins — who directed Speak No Evil — is behind the camera this time, working from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Tom Rhys Harries takes on the role of Matt Hagen, the disfigured actor who becomes Clayface. Naomi Ackie plays the scientist responsible for creating him, while Max Minghella rounds out the main cast as a Gotham City detective.
Flanagan’s involvement goes back further than most people realize.
He’s the one who originated this whole project and wrote the screenplay before scheduling conflicts pulled him away. That’s not surprising, given how packed his plate is — Flanagan is currently shooting a reboot of The Exorcist with Scarlett Johansson attached, on top of directing a Stephen King Carrie miniseries for Prime Video. Fans of his work on Hush, Gerald’s Game, and Doctor Sleep — not to mention TV projects like The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher — will recognize his fingerprints on this one, even with someone else directing.
Here’s the official synopsis DC Studios put out alongside the trailer:
“Matt Hagen’s meteoric rise from Gotham street kid to Hollywood leading man is tragically cut short when a local crime boss’s actions leave him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team and with nothing left, Matt seeks out a cutting edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self… but also unexpectedly affects his grip on reality, spiraling him down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge.”
No Batman in sight
Clayface has long been known as a Batman villain in the comics. Don’t expect to see the Dark Knight show up here, though — nothing in the marketing so far suggests he’s part of this story at all.
Eddie Marsan and David Dencik round out the supporting cast alongside Harries, Ackie, and Minghella. Clayface hits theaters on Friday, October 23, 2026.
The budget tells its own story here — just $40 million, which is modest by superhero movie standards these days. That’s a deliberate choice, and it makes sense given what happened with Supergirl.
That film pulled in only $121 million globally, landing it among the lowest-grossing live-action DC movies ever released. Gunn and his fellow co-CEO at DC Studios need Clayface to perform — not necessarily as a blockbuster, but as proof that smaller, character-driven DCU entries can still find an audience. A lower budget means the bar for success is lower too, which could work in the studio’s favor if the film’s tone and marketing connect with horror fans looking for something different from typical superhero fare.
