Tom Rhys Harries Cast As DC’s Clayface

One of the more unexpected announcements to come out of the James Gunn / Peter Safran DC Cinematic Universe was the reveal that Batman villain Clayface would be one of the first to get a movie. We don’t mean a Batman movie with Clayface as its big bad. We mean a full movie about Clayface, focused on Clayface and no one else.

Today the project took one step forward with the confirmation of its lead. Actor Tom Rhys Harries has been selected to fill Mr. Face’s gooey shoes. “After a long and incredibly exhaustive search, we finally have our DCU Clayface in Tom Rhys Harries,” Gunn announced. “Both [producer] Matt Reeves and I were just blown away by this guy, and can’t wait for you to see this film, directed by James Watkins and written by Mike Flanagan.”

Clayface made his first appearance in 1940, one yest after Batman himself. Most interpretations of him have used the same back story: he’s a struggling actor who gets doused one day with this chemical that changes his DNA (which tends to happen a lot in Gotham), and he can now look like anybody or anything, though his “default” body is now a morphous brown blob. With this new power, he turns to crime, figuring no one can stop him, and forgetting he lives in the same neighborhood as the World’s Greatest Detective.

We’ve technically already seen Clayface in the Gunnverse; he appeared in one episode of Creature Commandos, an animated series Gunn scripted himself and says is canon. He was not played by Harries on that show, though.

The interesting thing is that Gunn says he’s aiming for full-on horror with the Clayface movie. Given what he is and how he works, there’s certainly potential there. It’s a bit surprising though as modern superhero films tend to aim broad, and body horror films aren’t for everyone.

The Clayface movie is scheduled to come out September 11, 2026.