Clayface trailer leans into the body horror

The San Diego Comic-Con kicks off tomorrow, and DC Studios and Warner Brothers are setting the stage by dropping the first full trailer for Clayface, part of the DC Universe’s “Gods and Monsters” arc.

The film started out as a Mike Flanagan project (he’s the horror master who brought us The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, Midnight Mass, and Doctor Sleep, among other creepy delights). Flanagan said he was inspired by the 1992 “Feat of Clay” episode in Batman: The Animated Series, aspiring to create a film that combined body horror with a tragic thriller. DC Studios CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran loved Flanagan’s pitch and brought the movie into their rebooted DCU.

Alas, Flanagan had to bow out of the project due to scheduling conflicts—he’s a busy man these days—and James Watkins stepped in as director. But Gunn has said the final script retained Flanagan’s original story, with Hossein Amini doing some rewrites. The film will feature the origin story of the Matt Hagen incarnation of Clayface, introduced to the DCU in the animated Creature Commandos series (Alan Tudyk voiced the character). Per the official premise:

Matt Hagen’s meteoric rise from Gotham street kid to Hollywood leading man is tragically cut short when a local crime boss’s actions leave him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team and with nothing left, Matt seeks out a cutting edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self… but also unexpectedly affects his grip on reality, spiraling him down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge.

The original shape-shifting villain from the 1940s was a successful actor before turning to crime, so it’s a nice little callback to the character’s long, rich history. Tom Rhys Harries (Doctor Who, The Gentlemen) stars as Hagen/Clayface, alongside Naomi Ackie (Mickey 17) as Dr. Caitlin Bates, described as a “fringe” scientist and a love interest for Hagen. Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays a Gotham City police detective who just happens to be dating Bates. The cast also includes Eddie Marsan, David Dencik, Francesca Corney, Ruby Sear, and Wil Coban in as-yet-undisclosed roles.