Excited for Clayface? First images from the DC movie have leaked online

The R-rated DC project headlined by the DC supervillain Clayface, also titled the same, has started filming. Filming has started on the movie in Liverpool, where Matt Reeves also shot a portion of 2022's The Batman. However, that does not mean that the body-horror movie releasing next year shares continuity with Matt Reeves' Batman universe. Instead, the movie is set in the DCU (DC Universe).

The horror movie supposedly follows Tom Rhys Harries's Matt Hagen, who would go on to transform into a being made out of clay with shape-shifting powers. In the comics, Matt Hagen is a treasure hunter who accidentally immersed himself in a pool of radioactive protoplasm, becoming the second incarnation of Clayface. However, the DCU project, while retaining Hagen's name, is adapting the first incarnation of the character, whose name is Basil Karlo.

James Gunn announced this project in December 2024 as a horror movie, and then confirmed that it will be R-rated in February 2025. Now, leaked set images have provided glimpses into the DCU Gotham.

Clayface: What is the DCU movie project about?

The project was announced in 2024 as a horror project. The most surprising element about this project is that the solo movie headlined by this Batman villain was not a part of James Gunn's initial plans. But soon, Gunn was able to retrofit this project: Gunn himself confirmed that this movie was not in the DC Studios plan until much later in the February 2025 press conference:

“We had no plans making a Clayface movie. He [Mike Flanagan] turned in a script and it’s one of the best scripts that we’ve read.”

It was in this press conference that it was confirmed that the movie will probably be rated R, leaving fans excited. Now, with this movie, we will know what the DCU Gotham looks like. Creature Commandos Episode 6 already gave fans a taste of the DCU Gotham and Batman, but it is this movie that will show us what Batman's city in the newly built DCU looks like.

The leaked set images from the movie also provide insight into the history of the city's police department. Turns out the DCU GCPD in the movie and the rest of the DCU dates back to 1820. Gotham was established in the 1630s in several continuities in the Batman comics. Thus, a lot of fans are already formulating theories as to whether James Gunn will retain Gotham's cursed nature in the DCU.

James Gunn also promised a complete horror movie with this project:

James Gunn sat down for an interview with CBS Mornings on July 18, 2025, to discuss future DCU projects. Assuring fans that every project from the DCU will differ in style, Gunn singled out the horror project, directed by James Watkins. The DC Studios co-chairman's exact words were:

“We’ve got Clayface, which is a totally different thing. Although it’s in the same universe, it’s a complete horror film. 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.”