James Gunn Explains How Mike Flanagan’s ‘Clayface’ Movie Came to Fruition

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The superhero world got a little bit of a shakeup this month when it was revealed that Mike Flanagan was not only writing a Clayface movie, but that it has already set a premiere date of Sept. 11, 2026. This came as a surprise to many because it was expected that Matt Reeves’ sequel to his 2022 film The Batman would come first, but alas, we’re getting Clayface a month prior, and now James Gunn has revealed how it all came about.

Speaking with io9 in celebration of the Superman launch trailer yesterday, the subject of Clayface was brought up, and how Flanagan got involved in the whole thing to begin with. Gunn revealed that the film has been in the works for a while now, and while it’s not something he initially planned on making, Flanagan’s pitch and subsequent screenplay was too good to pass up.

“I didn’t plan on making a Clayface movie. Mike came in. He pitched this wonderful idea. I was like, ‘Damn, I can’t believe you got me to want to make a Clayface movie.’ But he’s got to write the script and who knows how that’s going to work. He goes and he writes the script. First draft is great. Second draft is even better. And then I’m like, ‘Let’s do it.’ So we found a place for it because if there’s quality stuff, we can find a way to work it in.”

Colin Farrell as The Penguin.

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Little is known about the plot of Clayface right now, or how he will fit into Reeves’ plans for his trilogy moving forward. The villain made his debut in Detective Comics #40 in 1940, and was rumored to be the central antagonist in The Batman – Part 2, but those whispers were quickly shut down by the director himself, who has yet to confirm who The Dark Knight will face off with next.

What Will a Mike Flanagan ‘Clayface’ Movie Look Like?

Though a director has yet to be found for Flanagan’s Clayface movie, we can glean a little information as to what it might look like based on some of his previous work. Flanagan has long been known to deliver heavy, character-driven pieces, such as Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, Hush, and his many Netflix shows like Midnight Mass. As such, we expect his Clayface script to lean into the his tragic history, while at the same time staying grounded in the new universe Reeves has created, which is undoubtedly one of the darkest versions of Batman we’ve ever seen.

There’s also Flanagan’s own words we have to draw off of, as the director was asked back in 2021 if he were to helm a DC movie, which character would he love to tackle? His post has since been deleted, but nothing on the internet is truly ever gone, so his response gives us a little more insight into how he’s handling the titular villain.

“Well I’ve wanted to do a Superman movie since I was a kid, but I would also be really keen to do a standalone Clayface movie as a horror/thriller/tragedy.”

A “horror/thriller/tragedy” is totally on brand for Flanagan, who remains as busy as ever these days. In addition to Clayface, The Life of Chuck is set to debut next year, and he’s also working on The Exorcist for Blumhouse, while at the same time developing a Carrie series for Amazon. Considering he’s one of our favorite filmmakers of all-time, we’re not even mad because – honestly – we’ll take all the Flanagan we can get. There’s just one question we have for him: When’s The Dark Tower going to be finished? Be sure to check out our interview with Flanagan above where he discusses all sorts of topics with MovieWeb’s own Matt Mahler.

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