DC might be back you guys. Superman recently came out, and it was great. A wonderful blend of sincerity and strangeness that we’ve been missing from comic book movies as of late. However, I’m not here to discuss the movie in detail, but to shine some light on what comes next. The new DC franchise, called the DC Universe, already has a few projects deep into production for the next few years. There’s an HBO Green Lantern show and a Supergirl movie set for next year, as well as a second season for Peacemaker that will release later this year. However, of the projects that are in production right now, the one that interests and excites me the most is oddly the most out-of-left-field project. That being the Clayface movie being released next year.
On paper, the idea of making a movie focused on Clayface seems strange. He’s a relatively B-tier Batman villain, and giving him a movie before other, more prominent characters feels odd. However, it’s the details about this project that make me interested in it. This project has been kicked around for the last few years, and the one who started it was acclaimed filmmaker Mike Flanagan. The director of Doctor Sleep and creator of Midnight Mass pitched the idea of a solo Clayface horror film back in 2021, when he was being considered for other projects. It initially didn’t get off the ground, but the idea never went away, and with support from The Batman director Matt Reeves and newly appointed head of DC Studios James Gunn, the project got traction again. Unfortunately, Flanagan won’t be directing the film as he is busy with a bunch of other projects at the moment, such as a Carrie TV show and an Exorcist movie. The director who will be in charge of bringing the project to life will be horror director James Watkins, who made Eden Lake and, most recently, the English remake of Speak No Evil. Gunn has reassured everyone that Mike’s script will be unchanged aside from a few small alterations and that its quality was the reason the film got into production very quickly.
As for why this project interests me, well, it’s a multifaceted situation. Firstly, having a project like this be driven by a creative like Flanagan is great. His influence will still be highlighted here even if he isn’t seeing it to the end. Plus, I have confidence in both Gunn and Reeves, who are the producers of the film, to shepherd it to the best of their abilities. It speaks to how the new era of DC is more interested in taking a more script-driven approach. Gunn has reiterated that no project will go into production until they feel satisfied with the quality of the script. It is why Supergirl is being made due to the high praises of the script written by Ana Nogueira, and that the Batman movie planned for the universe is still in the oven. It is honestly great that a studio division is focused on this element. For a while, Marvel has been kind of stapling together their films with reshoots and last-minute changes. It’s not something exclusive to them either, as plenty of blockbusters have been affected by a lack of a strong initial foundation. Clayface moving forward because it has a strong script rather than being rushed out the door, is a sign that DC is taking smart steps with how they are handling their restart. Not only that, but reiterating the importance of Mike’s script shows that the new regime is focused on valuing the vision of the creatives and letting it be the driving force to projects as opposed to the broader universe set up or suffocating any voice under mandated elements of what the universe needs to be. Gunn himself said that this will be a direct horror film and isolated on its own with its characters and story. Not saying that DC won’t have crossovers eventually, but it seems that the starting plan is to focus on standalone projects with a strong creative foundation.
Another element that intrigues me is that Clayface is going forward with a relatively lower budget. The film is estimated to have a planned price tag of around 40 to 70 million, which is much smaller compared to the 150 to 250 million range most superhero films have gotten as of late. In my mind, this is a sign of a smart mindset at DC. Rather than dumping all their resources into big-budget projects, they are balancing out the large-scale projects with much smaller ones. At this time, superhero fare is not as widely beloved as it used to be. Films are not performing as well as they did in the 2010s, and there needs to be conversations about the budgets of these movies. Most of them average around 200 million, and a film needs to make at least more than 400 million to break even at the very least. As such, DC focusing its efforts on smaller budgeted film projects is a smart idea. Not only to allow for more potential success if one of them does become a massive hit, but also to experiment more with different films. Another one of the smaller films in production is Sgt. Rock a World War II set film focusing on the character of the same name, who is one of the more iconic soldier characters in comics. Diversity is the spice of life, and allowing the new DC slate to have a bit more distinctiveness within its schedule will certainly help get people’s attention more than simply doing just generic superhero fare. Plus, using the smaller budgeted projects to experiment is beneficial as well since it’s a much lower risk scenario compared to dumping hundreds of millions into a pitch that, while interesting and well executed, might not appeal enough to make its money back. If Clayface’s approach and budget end up making it a big success, it could mean a more varied and balanced lineup of films out of DC, and that can only be a good thing.
The main reason I believe a Clayface movie will work, however, is that horror as a genre is bigger than ever this decade. It has gotten far more attention and love, both from critics and general audiences. The Substance, a body horror film, got a ton of awards love this year. Sinners, an auteur-driven vampire film by Ryan Coogler, exceeded expectations and became a gigantic victory for director-driven films. Even Saw and Final Destination, two franchises that were dismissed back in the 2000s as shallow, have gotten more reappraisal as of late and have had their two best-reviewed installments come out recently. With all of this in mind, making a smaller-scale horror film set in the new DC universe seems like a really good idea. There is already a visible audience for the genre now, and making a film like this will get more eyes on the new franchise. It makes the universe feel more varied while also appealing to a different crowd than simply the same people who like comic heroes.
At the end of the day, while I don’t know how this movie will turn out, I am excited for it for all the stated reasons above. I trust the talent and vision for the project, I feel its smaller scale and tonal approach is indicative of a healthy mindset for the superhero genre, and horror films in general are extremely successful right now. DC has the ball in its court to get people interested in their characters again, and it seems like they are taking the smart approach of more isolated projects that are more creatively driven and diverse rather than rushing to build up to more connected universe elements. Time will tell how all of this will turn out, but DC has my attention, and I hope we do get more interesting and well-made films at the very least.
