There is a lot of Clayface and DC Studios news tonight. So much so that I’m staying up late just to cover it all. It’s been revealed that The Haunting Of Hill House, Doctor Sleep and The Haunting Of Bly Manor creator/director Mike Flanagan has pitched a Clayface movie to DC Studios.
Now, I think this would be an incredible idea, and I bet his pitch was fantastic. Flanagan is easily one of the most exciting directors working in Hollywood today. He tends to operate in one particular genre: horror. It’s no wonder that he would be interested in making a Clayface movie.
He could make a body horror movie set in the DC Universe, or he could go ahead and make it an ‘Elseworlds’ movie. However, something tells me that this idea would have been for the actual DC Universe that DC Studios co-CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran, are starting up.
Mike Flanagan wants to make a Clayface movie for DC Studios
Credit: DC Comics
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Gunn comes from a horror background, and we already know that they are working on a Swamp Thing movie with James Mangold directing. That film will be a horror film, and it’ll be set in the DC Universe. So, it seems as though Gunn and Safran are looking at new ways of expanding the comic book movie genre, and one of those ways would be to start exploring different genres.
If you’re a fan of comics, and of DC Comics in particular, then you would know that they make incredible horror graphic novels. You’ve got the Swamp Thing comics, but you also have others such as The Nice House On The Lake, and even The Sandman comics are pretty scary at times.
Some of the Batman comic books are very much horror stories. This is why I love the fact that Gunn is talking to people like Mangold and Flanagan about turning these stories into comic book movies. It’s what the genre really needs to survive, at least, I think so.
So, according to Deadline, Flanagan has pitched a Clayface movie to DC. However, it’s also been revealed that Matt Reeves wants to have the villain appear in The Batman Part 2. It seems as though the creators are just loving the character and want to include him in their projects, which is good to hear because Clayface has been a bit of a forgotten Batman villain.
Clayface would be an incredible DC horor movie
Credit: DC Comics
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The character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. The original version of the character was called Basil Karlo, and he appeared in Detective Comics#40 (June 1940) as a B-list actor who began a life of crime using the identity of a villain that he had portrayed in a horror film.
The character only appeared twice in the Golden Age, but was the inspiration for the shape-shifting Silver Age version. It was in the late 1950s that Batman began facing a series of science fiction-inspired foes, including Matt Hagen, a treasure hunter given vast shapeshifting powers and resiliency by exposure to a pool of radioactive protoplasm, who became the second Clayface. He retained the title for the next several decades of comic book history.
I would love to see what Flanagan has in mind for this character. He’s a tragic character, but also a terrifying one. If there’s anyone who could do him justice, it’s Mike Flanagan. He’s directed some of the very best horror movies and TV shows in recent memory.
I was a huge fan of his Netflix shows, such as The Haunting Of Hill House, The Haunting Of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass. I also loved his Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game movies. His next project is the mini-series, The Fall of the House of Usher.
Flanagan did recently take to Twitter to address Deadline’s report. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:
Re: CLAYFACE – the news today is entirely speculative. When or if something like that ever becomes real, I promise I’ll tell you guys. 🙂
Re: CLAYFACE – the news today is entirely speculative. When or if something like that ever becomes real, I promise I'll tell you guys. 🙂
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) March 29, 2023
What do you make of this news? Do you like the idea of a Clayface movie or TV show from Mike Flanagan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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