Clayface: DC's Body-Horror Gamble Hits Theaters October 23 — Everything About Tom Rhys Harries' Monster Movie

DC Is Making a Horror Movie About a C-List Batman Villain — And Honestly, It Might Be Genius

When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, nobody expected their third DCU movie to be a body-horror film about Clayface. Yet here we are. Directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil, Eden Lake) from a script by horror master Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) and Hossein Amini, Clayface lands in theaters on October 23, 2026 — and the new trailer is genuinely unsettling.

Tom Rhys Harries Becomes Matt Hagen

Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries (Suspicion, The Gentlemen) stars as Matt Hagen, a rising Hollywood star whose face is brutally disfigured in an accident. Desperate, he volunteers as a test subject for fringe scientist Dr. Caitlin Corr, played by Naomi Ackie (Mickey 17, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody). The experimental treatment works — too well. Hagen's body transforms into living clay, and he becomes something no longer human.

The supporting cast is stacked: Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, and David Dencik round out the ensemble. Behind the camera, producer Matt Reeves (The Batman) lends Gotham-adjacent credibility, while cinematographer Rob Hardy (Ex Machina, Annihilation) gives the film its grimy, tactile look. Composer Volker Bertelmann (Oscar winner for All Quiet on the Western Front) handles the score.

Why This Could Be 2026's Scariest Movie

Here's the thing millennials will appreciate: this isn't another quippy superhero origin story. Flanagan's original pitch reportedly leaned hard into classic Hollywood tragedy — think The Fly meets Sunset Boulevard. A vain actor loses the one thing his career depends on (his face) and becomes a literal monster. That's a premise with actual thematic weight.

With a lean $40 million budget, Clayface doesn't need a billion dollars to succeed. Filmed on location in Liverpool and at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in late 2025, it's positioned as DC's answer to character-driven horror — the kind of swing Warner Bros. Pictures needs after years of bloated comic-book movies. As part of Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, it could redefine what a DCU film even looks like.

Bottom line: A Mike Flanagan-scripted, James Watkins-directed body-horror movie starring Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie, produced by Matt Reeves and James Gunn? That's the most interesting thing DC has attempted in a decade. Mark October 23 on your calendar.