Is Batman in the DCU’s Clayface Movie? (& How It Teases the Joker)

Clayface will take us into the DCU‘s Gotham City, but will Batman be there as well? The first teaser trailer for Clayface has been released, revealing DC’s first true horror movie. It tells the story of Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), an actor whose star is on the rise until his face is disfigured by a gangster’s attack, which leads him to undergo groundbreaking new surgery that transforms his body into clay. It marks the character’s live-action movie debut, but Clayface has been around for several decades, and usually as an enemy of the Dark Knight.

Indeed, most of Clayface’s most notable appearances have been in Batman media, even outside of the comics, from games like LEGO Batman and Arkham City to shows such as Batman: The Animated Series (the two-part episode “Feat of Clay” was a major inspiration for the new film). Despite their close ties, Batman will not appear in Clayface, at least as far as we know. No actor has yet been cast for the DCU’s Batman, and it’d be quite the surprise if they were first introduced here rather than their own solo movie.

Can Clayface Work Without Batman?

It’s fair to have questions or concerns about the absence of Batman in Clayface, given he’s so typically associated with the character. We have, of course, been down this road before: Joker did it to critical and commercial success. Its sequel, Folie á Deux, was a misfire, and The Penguin (a little different, since it was a spinoff from The Batman) is one of DC’s best TV shows. Clayface isn’t as well-known a villain as either of those, but that could be to its advantage because it allows him, like his body, to be a little more malleable.

This version of Clayface looks to be a tragic figure, rather than an outright villain, and the glimpses of the story we get in the trailer are compelling. This doesn’t have to make him a hero, but it looks as though there’ll at least be an element of revenge and him being a tortured soul, inviting audiences to understand and perhaps even root for the character. With the strong body horror elements at its core, this should be a very different kind of DC movie, and that can further help it work without the Caped Crusader being around.

Also, just because Batman won’t directly appear doesn’t mean it won’t inform the DCU’s take on the character. We know for sure we’re going to be seeing Gotham City, which already looks pretty great based on the footage so far. That’s going to also tell us a bit about the Dark Knight: is he active at this point in the DCU? Is his name uttered by criminals like that of the boogeyman?

As well as Batman, there’s also the matter of his arch-nemesis, the Joker. Clayface set photos teased the Joker, with calls for a protest against Gotham City Police Department saying to “join the Joker,” and graffiti on a wall reading “The Jokers.” That doesn’t make it into the teaser, but we do see Amusement Mile, a frequent hideout of the Clown Prince of Crime in DC stories, with a picture of a clown, which is surely done at least somewhat knowingly.

Given we’re going to be in Gotham’s underworld for parts of this, we should learn a thing or two about where James Gunn’s universe is headed, and it can be a crucial stepping stone towards Batman and Joker appearing, even if that’s still a few years off.

Clayface will be released on October 23rd, 2026.

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