James Gunn: Clayface Movie Fits DCU, Not Reeves' Batman Saga

James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-chiefs of DCU, have recently shed light on the much-anticipated Clayface movie, confirming its place within the DCU canon and its R rating. Clayface, known for his ability to morph his clay-like body into any form, is a classic adversary of Batman, first introduced as Basil Karlo in Detective Comics #40 back in 1940.

DC Studios announced last month that the Clayface film is slated for release on September 11, 2026. The decision to greenlight this project was influenced by the success of HBO's The Penguin series. Horror maestro Mike Flanagan is set to pen the screenplay, with Lynn Harris and The Batman's director Matt Reeves on board as producers.

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During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn and Safran elaborated on why Clayface fits into the DCU rather than Matt Reeves' The Batman Epic Crime Saga. "Clayface is totally DCU," Gunn stated. Safran added, "The only thing that's in Matt's world, his Crime Saga that he's telling, is the Batman Trilogy, the Penguin series, that's in that lane. So still under DC Studios, still under us. We have an incredible relationship with Matt, but those are the only things."

Gunn emphasized the importance of including Clayface in the DCU, saying, "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." He also noted that Clayface wouldn't fit well in the more grounded narrative of The Batman Epic Crime Saga, as it falls "very outside of the grounded non-super metahuman characters in Matt's world."

DC Studios is currently negotiating with James Watkins, the director of Speak No Evil, to helm Clayface, with filming set to begin this summer. "This summer, cameras are going to roll on Clayface, an incredible body horror film that reveals a compelling origin of a classic Batman villain, and this is another title that we added to the slate on the strength of an exceptional screenplay by Mike Flanagan," Safran announced.

Safran also mentioned that casting will commence once the director deal is finalized, and the film is scheduled for a fall 2026 release. He highlighted that while Clayface may not be as well-known as The Penguin or The Joker, "we really feel that his story is equally resonant, compelling, and in many ways, more terrifying than one of those."

Throughout the presentation, Safran described Clayface as "experimental" and not a "traditional superhero tentpole movie," but rather an "indie style chiller." Gunn echoed this sentiment, calling it "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 confirmed that Clayface will be rated R, stating, "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 when we were doing Belko Experiment and all of that stuff, 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."