DC ComicsClayface is officially in the works, and while we have a release date, the upcoming DCU movie may already have run into trouble as Mike Flanagan has departed the project.
Although most are gearing up for Superman and The Batman 2, the powers that be are also focused on getting another Gotham villain flick off the ground. That honor goes to the comic book baddie known as Clayface, and despite not having a director or cast, the solo movie’s release date is already locked in.
With a horror master penning the first script and the full force of DC’s creative team behind the project, there’s lots of reasons to get exited about this supervillain tale.
Read on to find out everything there is to know about the Clayface movie, from the release date to potential storylines.
Clayface release date
Clayface will be released in theaters on September 11, 2026.
It’s set to go into production in 2025. The release date was announced on December 13, 2024, making it one of four upcoming DC movies slated to arrive that year.
So far, the 2026 DC roster consists of an untitled project on May 29, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow on June 26, Clayface on September 11, and The Batman 2 on October 2.
Who’s making Clayface?
James Watkins will be directing Clayface, and while the movie’s first script was penned by Mike Flanagan, it’s now set to be rewritten.
After much speculation, it was announced that Watkins (who directed the 2024 horror movie Speak No Evil), would be stepping up to lead the new movie, followed by the news that the script would undergo some edits.
In May 2025, The Wrap reported that Drive scribe Hossein Amini had been tapped to carry out the rewrites.
DC ComicsJames Gunn and Peter Safran will produce, as well as Lynn Harris and The Batman’s Matt Reeves.
What happened to Mike Flanagan?
Since Mike Flanagan’s been on board from the beginning, his departure has caused some confusion. However, according to reports, he’s simply too busy with other projects – including his upcoming Carrie TV show.
The Clayface movie has been in development for a few years, but Flanagan wrote a now-deleted post on X talking about the possibility of making one all the way back in 2021. He even cited that he would approach the project as a “horror/thriller/tragedy.”
Given his background in gut-wrenching horror shows and movies (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, and Midnight Mass, to name a few), Flanagan has all the right expertise.
Warner Bros.When news broke that he was no longer attached to the project, Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider suggested that this is “par for the course” when it comes to blockbuster films, and that Flanagan is too busy with his Carrie TV show to carry them out.
In May 2025, Flanagan confirmed this in a conversation with ComicBook, saying that his original script was inspired by Batman: The Animated Series.
“‘Feat of Clay,’ Ron Perlman, to me, that’s it. That two-parter knocked me out. The short answer is that is absolutely what inspired my script. That is the world I wanted to live in,” he told the outlet.
“Batman: The Animated Series when I was growing up was my Batman. As much as [Michael] Keaton was my Batman, The Animated Series really was my Batman.”
The horror mastermind went on to say: “I don’t know what they’re doing with Clayface. I’m not directing it, and that filmmaker will need to make it their own.
“I know that they’re doing work on the script. I’m off doing other things now, I really hope it remains true to the spirit of what I wanted it to be. But it’s not my movie, so I’ll be in the audience with you, anxious to see how it comes out.”
Will Clayface be in The Batman 2?
Warner Bros.The Batman 2 script hasn’t even been finished yet, so there’s no way of knowing right now if Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne will be going up against Clayface.
Reeves’ involvement with the Clayface movie (plus a release date so close to The Batman 2) kicked off speculation about whether Clayface would make an appearance in the superhero sequel alongside The Scarecrow.
Gunn, however, shut down these rumors in a reply to a question on Threads, writing, “Firstly, no. Secondly, couldn’t be the case as there hasn’t yet been a first draft of a script.”
There’s a whole slate of untapped villains in Reeves’ version of Gotham, and Clayface is just one of the many possibilities. However, given how the Penguin and Joker are already established in that world, it’s more than likely to focus on them.
Plot speculation
There’s been no official synopsis or plot details released for Clayface, but sources say that it’ll follow a B-movie actor who injects himself with a substance and turns into the monster.
Clayface was first introduced in DC comics in 1940. There’s been eight versions of the character’s origin story, but it sounds like this release is taking the original route.
In the first comic, he was originally Basil Karlo, a B-list actor who took on the alias of a villain he’d played in a horror movie.
DC ComicsSince Batman will be busy in his 2026 sequel battling the as-of-yet unspecified villain, it seems as though Clayface’s movie could be a Joker-style origin story.
Each version of the character has been equally “tragic” in their own right, with every one of them fitting Flanagan’s bill. If the upcoming DC movie definitely ends up being a horror, then they may opt to go with the original Basil Karlo, a fictional horror star turned villain.
For more, find out how to watch all the Batman movies. You can also take a look at the other best supervillains of all time, and see what’s happening with James Gunn’s Superman movie.
