Clayface is not a great film. Let’s get that clear from the start. In fact, one could argue the DCU under James Gunn has yet to produce a great film. However? Clayface represents the first real step in the right direction for the DCU under James Gunn by proving he can steer an unknown commodity in the right direction
A Standalone Story That Stands Alone
Clayface is about as close to a standalone DCU film as you can get, and it works well enough. There is no Supergirl or Superman cameo, no Wonder Woman post-credits tease, no Batman lurking in the shadows. Just a working-class Gotham boy who makes it as an Oscar-nominated actor, gets his face sliced and diced by gangsters, and turns to experimental skin surgery for revenge. It is a body horror revenge thriller with a comic-book skin on a shoestring budget.
Is it noteworthy? No. But it is more than passable, enjoyable, and the actors are all capable and game. Tom Rhys Harries commits to the descent into madness, Naomi Ackie does her best with a thinly drawn doctor, and James Watkins still knows how to make flesh-crawling intimacy feel unbearable. The plane scene — Matt trying to cut through skin growing over his eyes mid-turbulence — is brilliantly grotesque in the best way. Many in the audience will look away rather than subject themselves to the gore
The Cue the DCU Should Take From This Release
Here is the note for James Gunn and his cohorts: The DCU is not the MCU, and it should stop acting like it.
Clayface was made for under $50 million. It has already made its money back minus production costs in the first week of release. It does not need to be a $200 million tentpole to justify its existence. Where Supergirl failed by disconnecting from fans and bleeding upwards of $200m million in losses, Clayface has nowhere to go but up. This is what a diversified DCU looks like — lower budgets, different tales, villains instead of icons.
People are growing tired of the Big Three. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman have been recast, rebooted, and repurposed to death. The Robert Pattinson Elseworld saga has become its own exhausting universe, and audiences are feeling the fatigue. Clayface proves DC can tell smaller, stranger stories that do not hinge on those three names. More of this going forward, please and thank you!
The Love Triangle and the Writing
The love triangle in Clayface seemed forced and only minimally believable. The writing sits a smidge above daytime drama level, and the Gotham-on-a-budget aesthetic (Liverpool standing in for the city) occasionally distracts. But it was worth the price of admission, and it was engaging. Just as Venom grew on audiences across three increasingly absurd films, one can only hope Clayface gets the same chance. There is something here worth nurturing.
TREMG Verdict
James Gunn and company finally have something to be proud of now in the DCU. Clayface is not a masterpiece, but it is proof of concept: a modestly budgeted, standalone, genre-forward DC film that entertains without begging for a sequel. If this is the template going forward — smaller swings, weirder stories, fewer cape cameos — the DCU might finally find its own identity.
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