The first trailer for Clayface is out, and it confirms the film is chasing something stranger than most comic book movies attempt: Matt Hagen, an actor whose career ends after a disfiguring attack, turns to an experimental treatment that restores his face but slowly costs him his grip on who he is.
Mike Flanagan wrote the screenplay with Hossein Amini and was originally set to direct, but stepped back over scheduling conflicts, handing the job to James Watkins. The swap did not change the project's roots in body horror, a genre Flanagan has circled for years without ever fully committing to in his own films.
Clayface is also DC Studios' third film under James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebuilt universe, and its first real horror entry, a notable bet for a slate that has otherwise leaned on action and comedy. Tom Rhys Harries takes the title role, with Naomi Ackie as the scientist whose treatment sets the transformation in motion, and Max Minghella rounding out the cast.
Clayface opens in theaters Friday, October 23.
