It's well-known that DC's upcoming body horror Clayface was inspired by the classic Batman: The Animated Series two-parter Feat of Clay. But in a new interview, Matt Hagen himself, Tom Rhys Harries, has revealed that the Batman Arkham games' depiction of the shapeshifting Batman baddie was a touchstone for the DCU: Chapter One movie.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Harries not only name-checked the 1989 graphic novel 'A Serious House on Serious Earth' by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean as an inspiration for his take on Matt Hagen, but the Welsh actor also identified Rocksteady's 2009 franchise launcher Arkham Asylum as a touchstone for its depiction of a Clayface at “a really effective and psychologically jarring moment.”
Now, if you've played the Arkham games, you're probably wondering if Harries actually meant Arkham City, as Clayface isn't much more than a glorified Easter egg in Arkham Asylum, appearing briefly in a cell where he transforms into Quincy Sharp and Jim Gordon as the solution to one of the Riddler's many riddles. Arkham City, however, gives Basil Karlo a surprise starring role: in a late-game twist (spoiler alert!) Batman discovers that Karlo has been posing as the Joker all along – "the role of a lifetime," as he puts it.
It's curious that Harries has singled out Arkham's Clayface. While the first two games in particular are widely lauded for their Paul Dini-scripted stories, and Clayface undoubtedly plays the role of the Joker well (he had us fooled, anyway), there isn't much depth to the character in the Arkham-verse beyond the unexplored psychology of a man willing to embody a psychotic clown. In fact, he only has three lines of dialogue when he's not imitating the Joker – two of which are "encore" and, er, "let's do this" – so it's not clear what "psychologically jarring" moment Harries is referring to.
What's clear is that Clayface is something drastically different for the DCU and superhero cinema as a whole. The story of actor-turned-transforming-gloop-guy Matt Hagen, the R-rated movie will feature “the true body horror of a Cronenberg-type movie,” according to DC co-CEO Peter Safran. “We’re not just telling a villain story, but a real psychological unraveling.”
After Supergirl failed to fly at the box office, making less money than Morbius during its opening weekend, the DCU is currently on the back foot. No doubt Safran and Jame Gunn are hoping the upcoming one-two-punch of HBO series Lanterns and Clayface will turn the fledgling comic-book universe's fortunes around.
“Not everything’s gonna work," Safran admits in that same interview, referring to Supergirl's commercial failure. "But we don’t judge the success of our 10-year plan based on any individual project along the way." Instead, it's about "expanding the tonal range of the DC universe,” notes Safran.
The first Clayface trailer teased a body horror spectacle from director James Watkins (Speak No Evil) and writer Mike Flanagan (many a Stephen King horror), just don't expect Batman to show up, despite all the Gotham nods in the initial reveal.
Clayface releases in theaters on 23 October. For more, check out our breakdown of how to watch the DC movies in order and everything you need to know about upcoming sequel Superman: Man of Tomorrow.
