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The DC Universe is bringing an R-rated Batman movie to theaters this year, as the first trailer for the film has finally been released.
The upcoming Clayface movie, which is the second DCU release for 2026, has finally gotten its first trailer released by DC Studios, showcasing the famous DC foe in live-action. Check it out below:
Tom Rhys Harries is playing the Matt Hagen version of Clayface, a struggling actor whose career takes a sour turn when his face gets disfigured. However, things get far worse when he goes through an experiment that turns him into the popular shapeshifting monster. The marketing for the film began on Tuesday, April 21, as the official social media accounts for the DCU film began sharing magazine covers that tease the overall plot of the film.
The Clayface movie comes from filmmaker James Watkins, while horror legend Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini wrote the screenplay for the DCU entry. This will mark the first DC Studios movie with an R-rating in James Gunn's superhero franchise. DC Studios has also debuted the first official film synopsis for Clayface, sharing how Watkin's project "unravels one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster in a story that explores the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition."
The 2026 entry is one of the two major films from DC Studios in the DCU's Chapter 1: "Gods and Monsters" slate, as Clayface will come four months after Supergirl opens on June 26. Originally, the Batman spinoff was slated for September 11, but got delayed till October.
During a CBS interview in July 2025, Gunn stressed that Clayface "is a totally different thing. Although it's in the same universe, it's a complete horror film." He added "that's one of the things we want to do - there's not a company style. It's not like every movie is going to be like Superman. The artists - the directors and the writers - each one will bring their own sense to it... That's what we want to bring to the films because we don't want people to get bored. We want to invigorate people."
Clayface has previously been a recurring villain used in multiple DC animated TV shows, while having been depicted in live-action through the Gotham series, where they used the Basil Karlo iteration. Harries will be the first actor to ever play Hagen outside of animation. The R-rated entry isn't the only project to expand the DCU franchise in 2026, as HBO will premiere the Lanterns TV show in August, right after Supergirl.
DC Studios' Clayface arrives in theaters on October 23.
Release Date October 23, 2026
Director James Watkins
English (US) ·