A DC body horror film? The superhero universe is no stranger to bringing horror to the big screen, but with James Gunn at the helm, the bar has inevitably been raised. Add Mike Flanagan’s touch to the mix, and the first trailer for Clayface proves it. The first DC horror film will star Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an up-and-coming actor who is disfigured by a gangster. To exact his revenge, he will transform into Clayface, the supervillain with a body of clay. The film is a Batman spin-off and will bring Gotham’s vigilante’s nemesis to the big screen… but perhaps not only that.
DCU fans are already confused by the first Clayface trailer, and a certain Easter egg might raise the stakes: did you notice a certain reference to clowns? In the trailer, we see a sinister figure walking down a hallway, with a billboard in the background featuring a creepy clown and the words “Fun and thrills this way!” It could just be a device to make the atmosphere more unsettling. Or perhaps it could foreshadow an appearance by the Joker.
In the animated film Batman: The Killing Joke, the Prince of Crime uses an abandoned amusement park as his lair or as the final destination for his victims. The atmosphere of the signage in the trailer strongly evokes the aesthetic of the animated film. Clayface will be set in Gotham City, so the Joker might not be too far away…though at the moment, this is just speculation. James Watkins may have decided to focus on only one Batman villain at a time, even though it’s undeniable that the atmosphere of Clayface would be perfect for a brief appearance by the Joker.
Source: Slash Film
