‘Clayface’ Director James Watkins Explains That [SPOILER] Cameo, Introducing Gotham City to the DC Universe and All the Shape-Shifting Kills

*Clayface* gives the rebooted DC Universe its first live-action look at Gotham City through a body-horror origin story about Matt Hagen, a disfigured actor who gains shape-shifting powers. Director James Watkins says the film’s grim, oppressive Gotham helps make the story feel distinct, while Hagen’s transformation drives both the horror and his revenge.

Tom Rhys Harries plays Hagen, who undergoes an experimental procedure devised by Dr Caitlyn Corr, played by Naomi Ackie. His changing body lets him take on other people’s appearances, including his father, portrayed in a brief cameo by Aaron Paul; he ultimately kills those who wronged him as well as innocent people, and ends up living in the sewers. Watkins chose the more contemporary Hagen story over Basil Karlo’s, and drew on German expressionist cinema and older New York street photography to shape Gotham.