If Sony’s recent run of Marvel failures has taught anything, it’s that making a successful movie about villains is really tough. Even DC has had a tough time with that, getting mixed responses to their Suicide Squad and Joker movies. But the Distinguished Competition is giving it another go with another Bat-villain, Clayface, who will be the center of his own horror movie from a veteran of the genre.
Deadline confirms that a Clayface movie is in the works, with a script by horror maestro Mike Flanagan. He won’t direct, however, as he’s busy working on his reboot of The Exorcist. What’s unclear is if the film will be part of the new DCU, or an Elseworlds tale similar to Joker. Some say Flanagan pitched a standalone effort, while other sources claim the character will be part of Matt Reeves’ The Batman 2.
Flanagan has been talking up his desire to do a Clayface movie for a few years, tweeting at the time that he wanted to approach the character as a “horror/thriller/tragedy” that wouldn’t paint him as a villain.
There have been several takes on Clayface in the pages of DC Comics. Introduced in the pages of Detective Comics in 1940 as Hollywood actor Basil Karlo, the most popular version has him becoming a clay-like shapeshifting metahuman often seen in Batman: The Animated Series.
Flanagan is best known for horror films such as Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, and hit shows including The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass. If anyone can make Clayface scary as Hell, it’s him.
