# Clayface trailer leans into the body horror

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/clayface-trailer-leans-into-the-body-horror/
- Published: 2026-07-22T19:18:17+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-22T21:33:41+00:00
- Original publisher: Ars Technica
- Original article: https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/07/clayface-trailer-leans-into-the-body-horror/
- Topics: Software

## Key points

- New Clayface trailer debuts ahead of San Diego Comic-Con.
- James Watkins directs, based on Mike Flanagan's original body-horror concept.
- Tom Rhys Harries stars; film opens in cinemas 23 October 2026.

## Summary

DC Studios and Warner Bros have released the first full trailer for Clayface, timed to coincide with the start of San Diego Comic-Con, giving audiences a fuller look at the horror-tinged superhero film ahead of its cinema release. The project, part of the DC Universe's "Gods and Monsters" strand, originated as a Mike Flanagan pitch inspired by a 1990s Batman cartoon episode, blending body horror with tragedy; although Flanagan later stepped back due to scheduling conflicts, director James Watkins retained his original story, with Hossein Amini contributing rewrites.

The film tells the origin story of Matt Hagen, a Gotham actor disfigured by a crime boss who undergoes an experimental treatment that restores his looks but gradually destroys his grip on reality, turning him into the shape-shifting villain Clayface. Tom Rhys Harries plays Hagen, with Naomi Ackie as the scientist who administers the treatment and Max Minghella as a police detective; the new trailer shows the procedure initially succeeding before Hagen's body begins gruesomely deteriorating mid-flight. Clayface is scheduled for release in cinemas on 23 October 2026.

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