DC Studios' upcoming Clayface movie is digging deeper into Batman's world than fans first expected, with set photos and trailer footage revealing a string of references tied directly to the Caped Crusader and his rogues' gallery. Directed by James Watkins from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, the body horror film stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a struggling actor whose face is disfigured by a gangster and who turns to a scientist for a procedure that reshapes his body into clay.
Set in James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU, Clayface is the franchise's first proper trip to Gotham City, and the level of detail in the background is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. From posters and graffiti at Amusement Mile to signage for businesses tied to major villains, the movie seems to be laying groundwork for characters far beyond its title antagonist. Some references point to familiar names like the Joker and Robin, while others bring in deeper cuts most casual viewers will miss on a first watch.
Major DC References Featured in Clayface
Amusement Mile (Joker, Harley Quinn)
The teaser trailer for Clayface gives fans a quick look at Amusement Mile, the shoreline carnival district in Gotham that DC Comics readers know as one of the Joker's go-to hideouts. A clown-faced sign reading "Excitement & Thrills This Way" sits over the entrance, and a closer look at the same area pulls in even more clown imagery in the background.
In the comics, Amusement Mile has been used as a Joker base in multiple eras, including in Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke, where the abandoned park serves as the lair where he tortures Commissioner Gordon. The location also features in the Batman: Arkham video games. Set photos from production in Liverpool have pushed the Joker connection even further, with graffiti reading "The Jokers" spotted on walls in the surrounding area.
The presence of Amusement Mile, working neon lights, and all, suggests the park is operational rather than abandoned in this version of Gotham. This could mean the Joker, if he is around in this DCU, has not yet reached the stage of his career that fans know from later stories. The park also served as a hideout for another famous villain, Harley Quinn.
The Flying Graysons (Dick Grayson, Robin)
Tucked away on a brick wall from Clayface set photos is an old, weather-worn poster for The Flying Graysons. To anyone familiar with Batman lore, this is one of the most interesting references from the Clayface set photos.
The Flying Graysons were John, Mary, and their son Dick, a family of trapeze artists in Haly's Circus. After John and Mary are murdered by a mobster, young Dick is taken in by Bruce Wayne and eventually becomes the first Robin, before later growing into Nightwing. The poster on the Clayface set portrays the act as an active, currently touring attraction, which is a strong hint about where the film falls on the DCU timeline.
If the Graysons are still performing in Clayface, the film is likely set earlier than most of the franchise so far, possibly before Dick is even adopted by Bruce Wayne.
The GCPD (Gordon, Bullock & Montoya)
One of the earliest set glimpses from Clayface was the first official look at this DCU's Gotham City Police Department, in the form of a marked GCPD squad car spotted during filming. The teaser also briefly shows a police vehicle responding to the chaos surrounding Matt Hagen.
The GCPD itself is one of the most character-rich institutions in all of Batman comics. Its ranks include Commissioner Jim Gordon, hard-boiled detective Harvey Bullock, and Renee Montoya, who eventually becomes the second Question. Crispus Allen, who later becomes the avatar of the Spectre, is another fixture of the precinct in the comics. Any of them could plausibly turn up in this version of Gotham.
Max Minghella has already been cast as John, a Gotham City detective whose fiancée (Caitlin, played by Naomi Ackie) is the scientist treating Matt Hagen, so the GCPD is already plugged into the film at a story level. Whether his colleagues at the precinct end up tied directly to Gordon's office is the bigger question. Now that the film has gone out of its way to seed Gotham lore in the background, it would be surprising if at least one familiar GCPD name was not buried somewhere in the credits.
Sionis Industries (Black Mask)
A sleek sign reading "Sionis Industries" was spotted by set watchers, complete with the company's stylised tower logo and a Gotham phone number. The branding is a direct callout to Roman Sionis, the wealthy heir who becomes the gangster Black Mask in the comics.
Black Mask first appeared in the mid-1980s and has grown into one of the most prominent street-level villains in Gotham. He runs the False Face Society, a criminal outfit that has clashed with Batman, Catwoman, Batgirl, and the Birds of Prey over the years. Outside the comics, the character has shown up in the Arkham video games, Batwoman on The CW, and Birds of Prey, where Ewan McGregor played a flamboyant take on the role.
What makes the Sionis Industries reference more interesting than a simple Easter egg is that Clayface's story revolves around Matt Hagen being beaten and disfigured by a mobster. Black Mask is the kind of Gotham crime boss who could plausibly be running the operation Hagen falls foul of, even if he never appears on screen.
Roger Elliott (Hush)
Another wall in Gotham flashes up a list of names billed as part of an "incredibly realistic level of detail" exhibit. Sandwiched between Marie Antoinette and Jack the Ripper is the name, Roger Elliott. There's also a tagline about "contemporary Gothamites and figures of history."
Roger Elliott is not a household name, but the character he points to is. In DC Comics, Roger is the abusive father of Thomas "Tommy" Elliott, the childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who eventually becomes the villain Hush. Tommy orchestrates a car crash to kill both his parents and inherit the family fortune. Roger dies in surgery, but Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, saves Tommy's mother. This influences Tommy's lifelong grudge against the Waynes.
This reference is interesting because it's linked to one of the deepest cuts in Bruce Wayne's origin. It also suggests the Elliott family is already a known Gotham name in this universe, which would line up with Hush being a long-game payoff if the DCU ever gets to its own version of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's Batman: Hush story.
The Penguin Man (Oswald Cobblepot)
Plastered to a Gotham wall covered in red and yellow graffiti is a small black poster reading "Behold the One and Only Penguin Man," tied to Amusement Mile's freak show. Beside it are flyers advertising a good number of circus acts. The poster's illustration shows a man with the features of a penguin alongside an actual penguin.
This is basically the DCU's first tease of Oswald Cobblepot. In the comics, the Penguin is one of Batman's oldest enemies, dating back to 1941, but on screen he has been reimagined repeatedly, most famously as the deformed carnival outcast in Tim Burton's Batman Returns and, most recently, as Colin Farrell's mob boss Oz Cobb in The Batman and The Penguin.
The Penguin Man flyer leans heavily on the Burton-era version of the character, where Oswald is raised as a sideshow attraction. This aligns with the rest of Amusement Mile, which is starting to look like the DCU's clearing house for Gotham's outcasts.
Club Vesuvius (Zatanna)
Cameras rolling at night on a Liverpool street caught a glowing neon sign reading "Vesuvius," with red lights, sidewalk barricades, and a marked GCPD car parked out front. That is Club Vesuvius, a Gotham City nightclub run in the comics by former mobster Johnny Sabatino, and its inclusion in Clayface is a tease for Zatanna Zatara.
Zatanna is one of DC's most powerful magic users and a longtime member of the Justice League Dark. In the comics, Club Vesuvius is where she regularly performs her stage magic act. Her ties to Bruce Wayne run deep, too, as the pair grew up together in some modern comics. Their relationship is even hinted at as romantic in stories like Detective Comics #833.
Arkham Asylum
A red Gotham Gazette news box was spotted on a Liverpool sidewalk during filming, with the day's edition stuffed into its top window. The headline screams "SEEING RED" over a photo of a redheaded mobster named Jimmy "Red" McCoy, while a lower paper reads "Government to Investigate Jimmy Red McCoy." The masthead at the top is the Gotham Gazette, the city's paper of record in decades of Batman comics. Alongside the Gazette, a Gotham Herald front page is visible with the same headline.
Arkham Asylum is also referenced in the newspaper's headlines. This isn’t the first tease of Arkham we've gotten. Previously, a Gotham City map surfaced from Clayface's set, laying out the full DCU version of the city. The map names Wayne Manor, Wayne Tower, Wayne Industries, Ace Chemicals, the Iceberg Lounge, Blackgate Penitentiary, the Monarch Theatre, the Kane Memorial Bridge, GCPD Headquarters, and, featuring prominently, Arkham Asylum.
Arkham is where Batman's worst enemies end up, from the Joker to Two-Face to Killer Croc; it's one of the most famous locations in Gotham City.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
