Clayface is the 2026 DC Studios horror thriller directed by James Watkins, with Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen. The film follows a Gotham actor whose career is interrupted by disfigurement and whose attempt to regain his appearance sets the horror story in motion.
Clayface is a name with several histories
DC’s character guide describes multiple people taking the Clayface name. That makes it useful for exploring the comics and related portrayals, but the alias alone leaves the film identity open. Look for Matt Hagen and Tom Rhys Harries together to find Watkins’s feature. A listing that only describes a shape-changer from Gotham could still point to a different incarnation.
Hagen begins the film as an actor with a career to lose. DC’s synopsis gives the attempted treatment and the changes it brings as the central predicament. The film’s horror angle follows from that setup and from Hagen’s deteriorating sense of what is happening to him. A viewer looking for a character-led horror story can use that premise before reading more about his later decisions.
Read the directing and writing credits together
Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, with the story credited to Flanagan. Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan also appear in the film’s cast. The names make a more precise film reference than a search for Clayface and Batman, which could bring up any number of Gotham stories.
Search for Clayface with James Watkins or Matt Hagen. To compare DC’s other incarnations, use the character guide and look up the real name and work for each appearance. That gives you the right character before you bring a comic origin into a discussion of the film.
Sources and review
- Clayface (2026) — DC
- Clayface — DC