Who does Aaron Paul in Clayface? You might be wondering about the answer to this question, even if you've seen the latest DCU Chapter One movie, as the answer is a little confusing.
The supervillain origin story is set in James Gunn's DCU, and tells how movie star Matt Hagen becomes the shapeshifting Batman bad guy, Clayface. Relative newcomer Tom Rhys Harries stars as Hagen, while James Watkins (See No Evil) directs.
Below, we investigate the curious case of Aaron Paul's appearance in Clayface, as well as recapping his involvement in the production. For more, check out our spoiler-free Clayface review, or dive into our spoiler-filled Clayface ending explained.
Is Aaron Paul in Clayface?
Despite never being officially announced as part of the cast, Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul is in Clayface. However, the Breaking Bad star appears in the movie for (and we're not exaggerating) a single second, in one of the more bizarre cameos in recent memory. Paul can be briefly seen during Matt's climactic assault on Club Vesuvius when, in order to elude Markos Szabo's armed heavies and enact his revenge, Matt shapeshifts around the dancefloor, changing his appearance as a form of social camouflage.
Most of the disguises that Matt adopts are people present, including Szabo's henchman Sal and a nightclub girl called Rosie. But one of the faces Matt transforms into for a split second belongs to none other than Aaron Paul. It's a disorienting moment (mirroring the effect it has on the characters), because Paul hasn't appeared in Clayface at all up to this point. Strange, no?
Paul's casting in the film was never officially confirmed by Warner Bros or DC Studios, but we now know he is in the movie. The question, then, is: did Paul previously have a larger role in the movie that would explain an actor of his stature appearing in Clayface for a literal blink-and-miss-it moment?
FeatureFirst previously reported that Paul would appear in a "brief and minor role." In the wake of this, fans speculated about what his role could be, with Victor Zsasz, Black Mask, and Matt Hagen's father all popular theories, but none of these figures appear or are mentioned in the finished film. Paul looks somewhat disheveled and shaggy-haired in the movie, and neither is he covered in tattoos or wearing a mask, so we can rule the first two out. Could Paul have once been playing Hagen's father?
This is more or less confirmed in the movie. During an earlier scene, Szabo's henchman mentions that he knew Matt Hagen's father, Jimmy. The Hagens, after all, were brought up in the Narrows, one of the seedier Gotham districts. It's Patches who is suddenly disoriented when Matt turns into Jimmy in Club Vesuvius, as he once knew him. While it's never specifically confirmed, we can also assume that the rundown apartment Matt retreats to after all his money is stolen is that of his father's.
Clearly, Clayface has been subject to some cuts (and we're not just talking about Hagen's close encounter with a pair of nail scissors in an airplane bathroom in the movie), and Paul's role has been all but excised as a result. It's possible he could pop up in deleted scenes down the line, but for now all we're left with is a vestigial cameo that leaves us with more questions than answers.
Clayface is in theaters now. For more, here's where Clayface takes place on the DCU timeline, and all the Clayface Easter eggs we spotted.
