The Clayface Movie Looks to Fix the Sony Spider-Man Universe’s Biggest Mistake

It’s an breathtaking clip for DC fans, due to the fact that we yet person our archetypal due look astatine the adjacent installment successful the DC Universe. That would beryllium Clayface – the stand-alone solo movie written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, and directed by James Watkins – which yet dropped its archetypal trailer. The movie stars Tom Rhys Harries arsenic the Matt Hagen incarnation of the salient Batman villain, and volition beryllium heavy inspired by the two-part “Feat of Clay” communicative from Batman: The Animated Series. It whitethorn look similar an unusual prime for the 3rd mainline DCU movie aft Superman and Supergirl, but it shows that this caller franchise is unfastened to taking immoderate bizarre originative swings, which should assistance separate it successful a marketplace dominated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Most importantly, the trailer indicates that Clayface whitethorn beryllium a superior people correction for villain-centered comic publication movies, which person been struggling severely. Between the embarrassing nonaccomplishment of Joker: Folie à Deux and the outright catastrophe that was the Sony Spider-Man Universe, Clayface is warring an uphill conflict to reverse the inclination of atrocious villain movies. Going by our archetypal look, however, the filmmakers whitethorn person precisely the close approach: Let your pb really beryllium a bad guy. Let’s get into it!

Slinging Mud

The trailer opens connected our protagonist, Matt Hagen; he's successful the infirmary with a severely damaged look covered successful bandages. Fans of Batman: TAS volition admit Hagen's backstory – that of a has-been histrion (a trait taken from the Basil Karlo incarnation successful the Golden Age-era comics) who is disfigured successful an mishap and gains shape-shifting powers from an experimental formula. As noted successful our Clayface Movie Burning Questions portion astir the trailer, this is acold removed from Hagen’s backstory successful the comics, wherever helium obtained his powers from immersing himself successful a excavation of radioactive fluid helium returned to periodically to recharge his abilities (he indispensable beryllium portion of Ra’s al Ghul’s societal circle). Still, the DC Animated Universe mentation of Clayface is the astir well-known adaptation of the quality with the wide audience, and his episodes thin to beryllium ranked arsenic immoderate of the champion successful the show’s wide celebrated history, truthful it makes consciousness to instrumentality with what your mean cinemagoer knows astir the character.

While he’s nary longer directing the film, the trailer appears to beryllium honoring Mike Flanagan’s imaginativeness for the character.“

More pressingly, the trailer’s visualization of Clayface’s powers look to beryllium sticking adjacent to the movie’s archetypal transportation arsenic a tragic assemblage fearfulness film. Mike Flanagan of Doctor Sleep and The Haunting of Hill House fame brought the thought of a Clayface solo diagnostic to DC Studios aft Warner Bros. decided to reboot their DC movie universe, and portion he’s nary longer directing the movie – he’s inactive credited arsenic screenwriter alongside Amini – the trailer appears to beryllium honoring Flanagan’s imaginativeness for the character. That it’s specified a stark departure from the Guardians of the Galaxy vibe of the Supergirl trailer – the different large DCU movie releasing this twelvemonth – proves that the DCU is looking to beryllium much malleable than the MCU erstwhile it comes to code and content, which is simply a bully happening for the genre's health.

Also bully for the wellness of the genre: If studios are going to support insisting connected making solo films for villainous comic publication characters, they should really fto them be villains adjacent erstwhile they’re successful the pb roles. This is thing Sony tried to propulsion backmost connected with their Spider-Man spin-offs to their detriment. Thankfully, each signs constituent to Clayface not pursuing successful their wake.

TOM RHYS HARRIES AS MATT HAGEN IN CLAYFACE.

Bring connected the Bad Guys

To beryllium clear, there’s nary 1 close mode to marque a comic publication movie, and arsenic I’ve said antecedently connected IGN, 1 of my cardinal beliefs is that you tin marque a bully movie retired of anything. Even though movies similar Venom: The Last Dance, Morbius, and Kraven the Hunter were each terrible, that doesn’t mean centering a CBM connected a villainous pb is an inherently atrocious idea. Sony’s biggest problems erstwhile gathering their shared beingness were bending the characters they were adapting retired of signifier truthful they could travel bland hero’s travel arcs, and besides that they were seemingly incapable to see Spider-Man successful movies featuring Spider-Man characters. But Clayface has a accidental to determination the needle connected some of those problems.

In the trailer, we spot flashes of Hagen’s shadiness connected an alleyway partition arsenic helium forms his fist into a mace and slams it down connected an unseen target. Is Hagen getting revenge connected idiosyncratic progressive successful his disfigurement, oregon is helium lashing retired successful choler astatine an guiltless people soon aft realizing he’ll ne'er beryllium the aforesaid again? Either way, that’s not the benignant of enactment a heroic quality partakes in. There’s not capable footage to foretell the film’s full plot, but what we’ve seen truthful acold points to Hagen being portrayed arsenic a profoundly flawed and convulsive main quality who is acceptable to clasp his darker impulses aft going done specified a traumatic experience. If Clayface tin pat into the originative vigor of movies similar Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face oregon David Cronenberg’s The Fly, we whitethorn beryllium successful for thing special.

As for the 2nd issue, we astir apt won’t beryllium seeing Batman successful a important capableness successful Clayface. DC hasn’t formed their caller Batman yet (to our knowledge), and Robert Pattinson’s incarnation seems to beryllium acceptable successful his ain beingness for the clip being. Although it would beryllium bully to get a cameo of Bruce Wayne successful costume, either from down oregon connected a distant rooftop, there’s capable foodstuff successful the vessel for a movie that focuses purely connected Clayface portion possibly including supporting roles oregon easter eggs that hint astatine the wider satellite of the DCU’s Gotham. Even if Batman is MIA, the quality betwixt this and Sony’s beingness is that we know Batman is coming. This isn’t similar fans getting gaslit into reasoning Venom and Spider-Man were going to transverse paths via the multiverse; Clayface volition astir assuredly tally into Batman successful a aboriginal DCU task – retrieve that Hagen already appeared successful animated signifier successful Creature Commandos – truthful this movie has country to chopped escaped without annoying fans by refusing to travel done with an quality by You Know Who.

While we won’t cognize however Clayface shapes up until October, this trailer points to DC making the close moves. If it’s a success, hopefully different studios processing CBMs volition recognize that atrocious guys don’t person to mean atrocious movies.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Twitter.