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

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

The film's release date was announced last month by DC Studios, set for September 11, 2026. The decision to focus on Clayface was influenced by the success of HBO's The Penguin series. Horror maestro Mike Flanagan is penning the screenplay, with Lynn Harris and The Batman director Matt Reeves slated to produce.

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During a DC Studios presentation covered by IGN, Gunn and Safran emphasized the importance of integrating Clayface into the DCU rather than Matt Reeves’ The Batman Epic Crime Saga. “Clayface is totally DCU,” Gunn stated emphatically. Safran further clarified, “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 elaborated on why Clayface fits better in the broader DCU, noting, “It was very outside of the grounded non-super metahuman characters in Matt's world.” The duo stressed the significance of featuring Clayface in their universe, with Gunn adding, “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.”

DC Studios is currently in negotiations with Speak No Evil director James Watkins to helm Clayface, with filming scheduled to commence this summer. Safran shared, “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 praised the project's unique approach, describing 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.” He confirmed the film’s R rating, expressing enthusiasm about the script's quality and its fit within the DCU.

“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,” Gunn concluded.