A new Clayface set photo seems to confirm which version of the character from DC Comics will appear in the DCU movie.
In the image (shared via Twitter), we can see someone rolling up a newspaper, the front page of which proclaims 'ACTOR MATT HAGEN DEAD!' Of course, it seems unlikely that DC Studios would let such a big spoiler slip and that the character is really dead – it's more probable that it's just the version of him that people thought they knew...
In the comics, there are several characters who use the Clayface moniker, and Matt Hagen was the second version to take on that alias. The others are Basil Karlo, Preston Payne, Sondra Fuller (AKA Lady Clay), Cassius Payne, Peter "Clay-Thing" Malley, an amnesiac known as Todd Russell, and Johnny Williams.
This iteration of Clayface may share Matt Hagen's name, but it seems like he's got traits of the other Clayfaces too. He's an actor, like Basil Karlo, whereas the comic version of Hagen is a treasure hunter who finds a pool of protoplasm in a cave that turns him into Clayface.
In the DCU's movie, Matt Hagen will reportedly be an up-and-coming actor who's approached by a renegade scientist after his face is disfigured. However, this aligns with Hagen's origin story in Batman: The Animated Series (in which he was voiced by Ron Perlman).
Directed by Speak No Evil's James Watkins and co-written by Mike Flanagan, the DCU's Clayface movie will star Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface and Naomi Ackie as the scientist responsible for turning his body into shapeshifting clay.
Clayface arrives in theaters on September 11, 2026 as part of the DCU Chapter One. While we wait, check out our guide to all the other upcoming DC movies and shows on the way.
