Over the years, Clayface has come in many shapes and sizes: thespian comedy sidekick in the Harley Quinn series, meme minifigure in the LEGO Batman games, and even as the focal point of Emmy-nominated two-parter 'Feat of Clay' in the seminal 1990s show Batman: The Animated Series.

2026's Clayface – the first outright horror in the DCU – taps into the rich narrative vein of the latter, molding the comic book villain into a tragic, deeply troubled figure that manages to escape the long shadow of the Bat for his own flawed, grisly rampage through Gotham.

Fresh off an Oscar nomination, the world of sandy-blonde actor Matt Hagen (a starmaking performance from Tom Rhys Harries) soon crashes down around him after bedding the girlfriend of crime boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik). The repercussions are severe and instant in a breezy first act: Hagen's face is slashed to pieces. His one saving grace is experimental nanocell surgery by outcast scientist Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie).

From there, Hagen's internal strife is quickly swept to one side, despite Rhys Harries' best efforts (the first casualty of Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini's underbaked script), for a full-throated revenge quest as a shapeshifting Matt lashes out at those who have left his career in tatters.

What follows is a pulpy, predictable trail for Hagen to follow, though sprinklings of a will-they/won't they dynamic between the former actor and Corr, suffering through a rocky relationship with a GCPD detective (Max Minghella), adds early intrigue to the villain's origin story.

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