DC Studios brought a first look at Clayface to CinemaCon in Las Vegas. While that hasn't been released online, we do have a description of footage from a movie that co-CEO Peter Safran described as a "riveting horror-thriller driven by character, not genre."
The trailer was set to "Do You Realize" by The Flaming Lips, and it seems we're getting the first true horror comic book movie with filmmaker James Watkins' upcoming DC Comics adaptation.
Fandango's Erik Davis wrote on X, "Full-on body horror vibes. Quick shots around a man lying in a hospital bed with bandages around his head. Ends with Tom Rhys Harries lying in a bathtub and quite literally wipes his face off with his hand. Freaky stuff."
Variety goes into a little more detail, detailing the character's origin story and a transformation that pays homage to the comic book version of the Batman villain:
"Tom Rhys Harries stars as the shape-shifting villain Clayface, whose real name is Matt Hagen. He starts out as a struggling actor whose face is disfigured and then undergoes a scientific transformation that turns his body entirely into clay. The trailer shows Matt sitting in a hospital bed with a bandaged, bloody face."
"He’s attacked by a knife-wielding assailant and has mysterious chemicals pumped into him, giving him his powers. Matt’s face changes repeatedly, showing him without an eye or mouth at times, and in the final moments he’s sitting in a bathtub and wipes away his entire face. There’s also a shadowy shot of him with a giant, mace-shaped fist, just like how he would pummel Batman in the DC comics."
The teaser will likely be paired with Supergirl this June, though the R-rated horror movie is an odd match for the Woman of Tomorrow, so it's possible DC Studios won't head down that route. We'll have to wait and see.
Supergirl was, of course, also spotlighted, though there were no major revelations to speak of. Filmmaker Craig Gillespie shared an extended action sequence with attendees, confirming that the movie is set entirely off-planet (requiring Milly Alcock to learn 5 languages and several pages of alien dialect).
"Scene finds Kara screaming at an alien in its native language. Visually, it's very dark," a bemused Jeff Sneider shared on social media. "Tech pirates board their craft and have X-ray vision to detect valuables. There's some sort of digital transporter. Listen, I have no idea what's going on right now. It's why I don't like scenes presented out of context."
He added, "Kara is flying toward the son as a ship chases her. She's dodging a ton of space debris. Cool visuals abound, but no clue what I'm watching. There's a ticking clock in this movie, as Krypto is dying. Kara calls Superman 'a nerd who sees the good in everyone. I see the truth.'"
We should have more to share with you on Supergirl in the morning, but as of now, the DC Studios portion of the panel is over, and there's been absolutely no mention of The Batman Part II ahead of its October 2027 release.
Back to Clayface, Midnight Mass, The Life of Chuck, and Carrie filmmaker Mike Flanagan wrote a first pass of the movie for DC Studios before unexpectedly handing over his passion project to writer Hossein Amini and director James Watkins.
The cast of Clayface will be led by newcomer Tom Rhys Harries, with Eddie Marsan, Max Minghella, and Naomi Ackie set to join him in undisclosed roles.
The movie is set to arrive in theaters on September 11, 2026.