PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   With only one film out so far, James Gunn’s take on the DCU is definitely heading in a more unexpected direction compared to the linear team-up of the Avengers seen in Phase 1 of the MCU. Before last year’s hit Superman, there was exactly one season of the animated Creature Commandos series, and following Superman came the second season of Gunn’s Peacemaker show—originally launching at the end of the old DCEU but later integrated into the franchise’s new path. Up next are Supergirl and Lanterns, plus the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow set to hit theaters in July 2027. Still, the overarching story tying together the first chapter of the DCU (Gods and Monsters) hasn’t fully come into view yet.

Now another upcoming film is set to add even more complexity: Clayface. A standalone villain origin tale in the style of Todd Phillips’ Joker, the story for Clayface was proposed by horror veteran Mike Flanagan in 2023 (he couldn’t direct it because of his work on the upcoming Exorcist movie and Carrie streaming series). By February 2025, it became an official project, with filmmaker James Watkins attached to direct from a script co-written by Flanagan and Drive scribe Hossein Amini. Clayface’s path to the screen has been unconventional; for some time, no one knew if it would belong to Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe, the DCU, or be a completely independent film—but now we have an answer, though it raises several new questions.

Clayface Takes Place Before Superman

Following the release of the film’s first teaser trailer yesterday, James Gunn confirmed again on Threads (during a conversation with another user) that Clayface is indeed set in the main DCU timeline. He also revealed that the movie takes place before 2025’s Superman in chronological order. This is especially intriguing because the exact year of the setting hasn’t been announced yet, and additionally, there’s no word on the DCU’s Batman—no casting news, no references, nothing. Since the film is an origin story (centered on the tragic tale of rising actor Matt Hagen, who seeks help from a mad scientist after a gangster disfigures his face), it would still make sense if Batman doesn’t appear. However, this could mark our first official glimpse of Gotham in the current DCU.

When the film was filming last year, some leaked behind-the-scenes photos showed a street lined with 1970s-style cars alongside modern Gotham City media vans. There was also a detail that excited Battinson fans: a Gotham Gazette newspaper with the same logo used in Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe.

What About the DCU Batman?

Even though Gunn has apparently confirmed Clayface’s place in the DCU (noting it doesn’t fit with the grounded, non-superpowered tone of Matt Reeves’ universe), there are still many questions about the project’s timeline—most notably, whether it’s set during a period when Batman is active. Since Matt Hagen is an actor, any time-period inconsistencies could potentially be explained by him filming a movie within the movie.

Until we get more than the small hints from the trailer, it’s difficult to tell how far back in the timeline the movie will go. For example: Is Clayface set decades before Superman arrives, or just a few years earlier? And if it’s set in the distant past, how will it link to the current DCU events?

While this might look like a standalone film similar to Joker, Gunn positioning it as the start of the DCU means it’s deeply tied to the new universe’s lore. Plus, the fact that James Gunn liked Flanagan’s pitch so much he included it in the DCU is evidence that it’ll be a more impactful movie than many expect.

Clayface will release in theaters on October 23rd, 2026.