James Gunn Clarifies Clayface Movie's DCU Inclusion Over Reeves' Batman Saga

DCU co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran have recently shared exciting details about the upcoming movie "Clayface," confirming its status as part of the DCU canon and its R rating. Clayface, known for his ability to shapeshift his clay-like body into any form, is one of Batman's most iconic and oldest adversaries. The character first appeared as Basil Karlo in Detective Comics #40 back in 1940.

DC Studios announced last month that "Clayface" is set to 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, while Lynn Harris and "The Batman" director Matt Reeves are slated to produce.

Confirmed DCU Projects

11 Images

During a DC Studios presentation attended by IGN, Gunn and Safran explained why Clayface fits into the DCU rather than Matt Reeves’ "The Batman Epic Crime Saga." Gunn stated, “Clayface is totally DCU.” 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. 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 explained that Clayface wouldn't fit well within the more grounded narrative of "The Batman Epic Crime Saga," saying, “It was very outside of the grounded non-super metahuman characters in Matt's world.”

Safran confirmed that DC Studios is currently in negotiations with James Watkins, the director of "Speak No Evil," to helm "Clayface," with the deal seemingly close to completion. Filming is scheduled to start this summer. Safran described the film as “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.”

He also mentioned that casting will begin as soon as the director deal is finalized, with the film set for a fall 2026 release. Safran highlighted that while Clayface may not be as well-known as The Penguin or The Joker, his story is “equally resonant, compelling, and in many ways, more terrifying than one of those.”

Throughout the DC Studios presentation, Safran described "Clayface" as “experimental” and not “your traditional superhero tentpole movie,” but rather an “indie style chiller.” Gunn added that the movie is “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 confirmed the film's R rating, saying, “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.”