DC Studios dropped the first official teaser trailer for Clayface on April 22, 2026. The teaser gives fans their first real look at DC’s upcoming body horror take on the shapeshifting villain. And it doesn’t hold back.
The trailer opens with Matt Hagen lying in a hospital bed, bloody bandages covering his face. After being attacked by a knife-wielding assailant, he’s injected with mysterious chemicals. Granting him his shapeshifting powers. It’s unsettling right from the start.
Tom Rhys Harries stars as Clayface, with James Watkins directing from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. That’s a strong creative team. Flanagan is known as a horror maestro, while Watkins previously directed The Woman in Black.
Described as DC Studios’ first-ever foray into the genre, the film follows one man’s horrifying descent. It follows his path from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster. The story explores the loss of identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition.
This is a clear tonal shift for the DCU. It’s a body horror film, which is quite a jarring genre swap. This follows the relative wholesomeness of Superman and the tone seen in Supergirl trailers. DC is clearly willing to go darker with this one.
The project is already being compared to David Cronenberg’s The Fly. That’s a big reference point, and the trailer seems to earn it.
DC Studios co-chief James Gunn had initially told reporters the studio “had no plans [to make] a Clayface movie.” But then Flanagan “turned in a script and it’s one of the best scripts that we’ve read.” That’s what got the whole thing greenlit.
Peter Safran said, “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.”
Like Joker, the project is an origin story for a Batman villain and is expected to carry an R rating. Unlike Joker, it is considered part of the main DC Universe.
The film also stars Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan. Producing is Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, Gunn, and Safran.
Clayface is one of Batman’s earliest antagonists, first introduced in 1940 as a washed-up actor turned criminal. In 1961 DC established his His shape-shifting abilities. This marks the character’s big-screen debut after appearances in several animated and live-action adaptations. This includes Ron Perlman‘s version on Batman: The Animated Series.
Clayface hits theaters exclusively on October 23, 2026.
