Can You Smell What James Gunn Is Cooking: Mike Flanagan’s ‘Clayface’ Is Match Made in Heaven

The DC Universe is going through major changes now with James Gunn and Peter Safran leading the process of reconstructing the universe of superheroes. Each announcement is a signal of the next hype, and now, a new collaboration has got fans excited about the popular Batman villain Clayface.

Mike Flanagan, the man behind some of the most popular horror series in the recent past, will adapt one of the most interesting villains of the Dark Knight that holds the potential to change the way fans look at comic-book adaptations.

Mike Flanagan is ready to bring Clayface on screen

More projects are on the way as James Gunn sets up the path for the development of the DC Universe. According to Variety, a Clayface movie is in talks now, and Mike Flanagan will be the one leading the project. This character has been reportedly approved for a feature film production under DC Studios, which will possibly expand in the future of DCU or DC Elseworlds.

Flanagan is not new to the idea of Clayface. During his earlier appearance on the Script Apart podcast, he revealed that he had a meeting with Warner Bros. where he expressed that he “really want to do Clayface.” He further added,

I went in and said, ‘You know, if you want to do some horror-leaning DC stuff, boy do I have a great take on Clayface. I’d love to do that movie.’ […] And the meeting kind of went nowhere. [Berg] didn’t really grab onto any of that stuff.

It is noteworthy that the filmmaker has worked in the horror genre before, which makes him more suitable for a Clayface movie. He has shown his skills of edgy horror storytelling with previous highly rated shows like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass.

The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher are some more examples of Flanagan’s work in the horror genre. Apart from these, he will be producing a post-apocalyptic zombie horror film, Epilogue, and will also be directing a new Exorcist movie.

While Mike Flanagan might not direct the Clayface movie because of his tight schedule, he could be scripting the movie. It is a chance to get into a character who has a rich and complex mythology through the lens of a creator who has a proven track record in the field of horror.

Clayface’s history and his rumored appearance in The Batman 2

Clayface isn’t just a regular villain. He is a shapeshifter with an interesting backstory. He was introduced in 1940 as a washed-up actor who chose a life of crime. However, as years passed, the character has gone through major developments and iterations.

In the beginning, Clayface was just a villain who wore a clay-like mask of one of the characters he portrayed on stage. Later, he gained genuine shape-shifting powers in the 1960s. 

The character has been portrayed several times on screen, from Ron Perlman’s iconic voice work in Batman: The Animated Series, to Brian McManamon’s live-action take in Gotham. All of them have added more layers to the Clayface arc.

Recently, there have been some discussions going on that say Clayface may appear in The Batman 2. However, Matt Reeves has mentioned in his SFX Magazine interview (via ComicBookMovie) that he doesn’t want to “go into full fantastical” as “it’s meant to feel quite grounded.”

It could be possible to reduce the extreme abilities of the Batman villain and keep him as Basil Karlo, who can disguise himself as others to keep the story grounded. On the other hand, DCU has already created a version of Clayface in Creature Commandos, which keeps the clay-like, shapeshifting aspect of the character.

The Batman and Creature Commandos are streaming on Max.