DC Studios Greenlights a Clayface Movie

Movies

Sony may be done with Spider-Man villain movies that don’t have Spider-Man, but DC is picking up the slack. They’re going all in on their solo Batman villain productions after the success of Joker (not so much the sequel) and the HBO series The Penguin. Variety reports that a Clayface film has been given the go-ahead at DC Studios, with Matt Flanagan having written the script, though he probably won’t be directing. Flanagan, who’s made a name for himself bringing Stephen King novels and short stories to streaming services (the Variety piece says that he’s developing a series based on Carrie for Amazon MGM Studios because apparently Stephen King just hasn’t written enough stories for them to pick a new one), describes his vision for the Clayface movie as “a horror/thriller/tragedy.” Matt Reeves, who directed The Batman and produced The Penguin, will produce with Lynn Harris, so you can guess what the tone will be. The Clayface movie, which I suppose we should assume will be called Clayface, is expected to start filming early in 2025.

If this is a Matt Reeves production, it’s safe to assume this version of Clayface won’t be the one most fans probably want to see. I’m referring, of course, to the shape-shifting, monstrous mound of goo the character became in the 1960s and stayed ever since, most famously in Batman: The Animated Series. That was the Matt Hagen version of Clayface from the 60s, voiced by Ron Perlman, and he was very cool and made for some inventive fights with Batman because he could mold his appendages into various shapes. It’s more likely they’ll use the original version of Clayface from 1940, an actor named Basil Karlo who used movie makeup to disguise himself so he could commit crimes undetected. (I believe this version was used in Batman: Caped Crusader.) My suspicion is that the Clayface in the movie will be similar to Basil Karlo but will use a different name, perhaps Matt Hagen. Why do I think he’ll use a different name? Because Matt Reeves and his crew of snobs thought “Oswald Cobblepot” was too outlandish and changed the Penguin’s name to “Oz Cobb.” (This is coming from someone who loved The Penguin, by the way.) I imagine they’ll feel the same way about Basil Karlo, a play on the actors Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone, and use one that sounds less comic-booky. However, there’s no way Reeves will want a movie featuring the more creature-like Clayface, so he’ll probably just be using the mask.

As for the idea of a Clayface movie, I’m sort of indifferent. I’ve liked DC’s forays into solo Batman villains so far, but I don’t know how interesting Clayface will be on his own. His story is not particularly complex or involved without the Dark Knight. And this is a trend I’d rather not have continue; those Spider-Man villain films are finally about to be done, and I’d rather get back to having the villains be antagonists in movies about their heroic nemeses. Eventually, the heroes are going to run out of bad guys to fight because they’ll all be off in their own solo outings. But James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU feels like an anything-goes kind of universe right now; I know this is probably an Elseworlds movie, but so far, it doesn’t look like they say no to much. However, I am glad that Gunn is sticking to his word and only putting movies into production when they have a script ready. (That this is considered revolutionary today is insane.) Maybe the Clayface movie will be great; I’d like that, and I’d really enjoy seeing Clayface brought to life on the screen. I’d just prefer it was in the spectacular fashion I’m sure we won’t get… and in a Batman movie.

Let us know what you think of DC greenlighting a Clayface movie in the comments!

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