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

DCU co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran have officially confirmed that the upcoming movie "Clayface" is part of the DCU canon and will carry an R rating. Clayface, a character with the unique ability to shapeshift his clay-like body into anyone or anything, is a long-standing adversary of Batman. The character first appeared as Basil Karlo in Detective Comics #40 back in 1940.

DC Studios announced last month that "Clayface" will hit theaters on 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 set to write the screenplay, with Lynn Harris and "The Batman" director Matt Reeves co-producing the film.

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During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn and Safran elaborated on why Clayface fits within the DCU rather than Matt Reeves’ "The Batman Epic Crime Saga." “Clayface is totally DCU,” Gunn affirmed. 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."

Safran emphasized the importance of integrating Clayface into the DCU: "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.” Gunn further noted that Clayface wouldn't suit the more grounded narrative of Reeves' saga, stating, “It was very outside of the grounded non-super metahuman characters in Matt's world.”

Safran revealed that DC Studios is currently negotiating with James Watkins, the director of "Speak No Evil," to helm "Clayface." The film is set to begin shooting 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 stated.

He added, “I think some of you are probably aware that we're in negotiations with James Watkins now to direct, and we'll start casting this as soon as we have the director deal done and we'll shoot this summer. It's slated for a fall 2026 release. Clayface might not be as widely known as The Penguin or The Joker, but 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," noting it deviates from the traditional superhero blockbuster format, labeling it an "indie style chiller." Gunn described it as "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 also confirmed that "Clayface" will be an R-rated film. He elaborated on their initial reactions to the script: “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.”