Mike Flanagan’s feature film about Batman’s old enemy Clayface finally has a director in mind. According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Watkins, most recently of Speak No Evil fame, stepped up to helm the project. This will technically be his first foray into the superhero genre, but you should expect something more haunting from Flanagan. The origin story will center around a Hollywood horror vibe that sounds uniquely similar to last year’s The Substance.
Mike Flanagan and James Watkins Join the Batman Universe with Clayface Next Year
Director James Watkins ends the Clayface movie’s long search for a director. Watkins reached a new level of mainstream success last year with Speak No Evil, a remake of a Danish film from the previous year. The English filmmaker made a name for himself with his 2008 debut, the cult thriller Eden Lake. He followed that project with The Woman in Black, but he didn’t return to horror until 2023. Watkins joins a powerful crew of talent behind the camera on Clayface. Mike Flanagan is a huge name in horror, but producer Matt Reeves is arguably an even bigger name in Batman. There’s no clear word on exactly which universe the film fits into, but DCU CEO James Gunn personally confirmed Watkins.
Clayface began life way back in 2021 as a fun idea from screenwriter Mike Flanagan. This was probably between Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher. The man is a legend in the genre at this point, but his leap to DC is still surprising. Some claim he pitched the project back in 2023, but it received its green light late last year. The premise allegedly follows the original Clayface, which presumably means Basil Karlo. Karlo was a B-movie actor who took on the identity of a villain he played to commit crimes. Instead, this feature will follow the character after he takes a chemical injection that should give him his career back. That mysterious mixture turns him into a mass of clay, but it also allows him to change shape. This sounds remarkably similar to The Substance with a Batman villain twist.
Clayface sounds like one of the more outside-the-box pitches from the new DCU. Its premise clearly plays with the current trends, but its source material is almost 80 years old. Clayface comes to DC with a proposed release date of September 11, 2026. Fans will have to wait and see exactly what form this bizarre concept takes.
