With the DCU still ramping up in its early stages, the eyes of the fans are constantly on it, ready to see what approach they’ll go with for various characters. We’ve gotten a huge taste of the DCU thanks to Superman and the advertising of Supergirl and Lanterns, in which we’ve seen the likes of Hawkgirl, Lobo, and multiple Green Lanterns.
With audiences wondering who or what could be next, the answer is, apparently, Batman’s enemy Clayface. Warner Bros. has released the first teaser trailer for Clayface, written by horror icon Mike Flanagan. Let’s take a peek at what this teaser has to offer and see if a standalone film based on the villain is worth being excited for.
Horror Vibes
This teaser proves that they’re not holding back with this being a horror movie. They’ve advertised from the beginning that this will fully be a horror movie, and they’re absolutely full-sending it. It may take place in the world of DC and the same canon as 2025’s Superman, but this is looking like some top-notch, terrifying body horror, reminiscent of The Fly or The Substance. Matt Hagen’s story playing out throughout the film will surely lead to some psychological horror as well, which should be a spine-tingling moviegoing experience.
DCU’s Gotham
This teaser gives fans the first look of the DCU’s version of Gotham City, home of Batman and his rogues. It’s one of the most vital cities in the DC Universe, as well as comic books in general, so it will be intriguing to see how it’s handled here. In some of the best stories, Gotham feels like a character in itself, so hopefully that’s the case here. So far, the very brief images are looking great. It would be cool if there are gargoyles, giant statues, and blimps floating around like in a lot of the source material.
Amusement Mile
One of the Gotham City locations shown in the teaser is Amusement Mile. Amusement Mile is an old portion of Gotham’s entertainment district, and often includes an amusement park and sometimes circus performances. The area has had ties to Dick Grayson, the Joker, and other characters throughout the history of Batman. With Clayface being an actor, it’s worth wondering if that will play into Amusement Mile’s presence in the film.
Spiked Mace
There’s a shadow of Clayface’s iconic spiked mace (which he transforms his hand into) shown in the trailer. It’s a great tease for his powers once he has more control of them. It’ll be cool to see it in action, as well as his other transformation abilities. It’s also genuinely nice to see some superpowers in a Gotham City-set movie, as filmmakers often force Batman lore into being something more grounded and realistic than it actually is.
Origin Story
By the looks of this teaser, this movie will showcase Clayface’s comic book accurate origin story, with plenty of influence from his first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series. An actor named Matt Hagen, who is obsessed with looking good for the camera, is unfortunately turned into a melty blob monster with transformation powers, and then uses said powers to take revenge on those who have wronged him. This looks like the movie will handle the source material with care.
Why Clayface?
It’s still unclear as to why someone would focus on making a standalone movie for Clayface of all characters, especially one where he’s not fighting Batman. That’s hard to sell to casual audiences and doesn’t match how the source material works as much. That being said, I’m really intrigued and excited for this.
Maybe they’re using this to ease casual moviegoers into the idea of a Gotham City or a Batman movie that includes superpowers. Maybe it’s just going to be a really good horror movie. Either way, it’s looking like a solid body horror movie, and I’m always down for that.
Read Next: Everything Set Up By ‘Superman’
Nonstop Nerd 