Clayface has been turning up in Gotham since 1940, though he hasn’t always looked like the shapeshifting creature Batman fans know today.
He started as an actor in a mask. The body made of clay came later.
Now, Tom Rhys Harries is taking on the role in DC Studios’ Clayface, arriving in theatres this October. He plays Matt Hagen, an actor whose attempt to recover from a brutal attack leads to a terrifying transformation.
For anyone coming to the character fresh, there’s one detail worth clearing up: Clayface is a name shared by several different people. Their stories have sometimes overlapped as writers and filmmakers put their own spin on the character.
Clayface’s Origins
The first Clayface was Basil Karlo, introduced in Detective Comics #40 in 1940. Furious about a remake of a film he had starred in, the actor adopted the disguise of a screen villain and began murdering members of the production. He had no supernatural powers in that original story.
Matt Hagen arrived in Detective Comics #298 in 1961. A treasure hunter who gained shapeshifting abilities after encountering a mysterious substance, he helped establish the version of Clayface whose appearance could change at will.
Batman: The Animated Series later combined Hagen’s identity with Karlo’s acting background. In the two-part episode “Feat of Clay,” Ron Perlman voiced an actor who relied on a product to temporarily restore his face after an accident. His dependence gave its supplier, businessman Roland Daggett, control over him. A massive exposure eventually transformed Hagen into Clayface.
The acting connection gave the story an emotional weight that went beyond his appearance. Hagen wanted to keep working, and the treatment allowed him to do that—until the people supplying it decided he was expendable.
Across his different incarnations, Clayface’s abilities have made him a formidable opponent: he can impersonate people, reshape his body and draw on enormous strength. Some stories have also allowed him to become an ally to Batman, leaving room for sympathy and even redemption.
What to Expect From the Film
The upcoming film follows Hagen from his childhood in Gotham to a career as a Hollywood leading man. After a crime boss leaves him disfigured, an experimental treatment restores his appearance but begins to affect his grip on reality, sending him towards revenge.
For viewers familiar with the animated series, parts of that setup will sound familiar. The film gives Harries his own version of an actor whose livelihood depends on his face, and whose efforts to recover it come at a considerable cost.
As detailed in SWAGGER’s first look at Clayface, James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, with a story by Flanagan. Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan also star.
Our behind-the-scenes photos offer a look at Harries and Watkins during production ahead of the film’s North American theatrical release on October 23, 2026.
