DC Studios just revealed Clayface's most horrifying look yet ahead of his live-action debut on October 23. Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, the up-and-coming actor who transforms into the tragic Batman villain. The body-horror film, directed by James Watkins from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, is gearing up for its theatrical run by releasing a series of scary shots of Clayface. But the latest piece of marketing from DC Studios is the most blood-curdling look at the villain fans have gotten so far.
DC Studios unveiled the new Clayface poster on September 17 with the caption "Everyone sees him differently." The studio has released numerous character posters for the film, but this one is the scariest. The artwork boasts a gorgeous color palette, washed in a blood-red glow. Matt Hagen's colossal, disfigured head fills most of the frame, his skin dripping and melting as if made of molten wax.
The image grows more unsettling as it shows skulls buried within Hagen's melting, clay-like face, one on the left side, and a grinning one where the right cheek should be. The portrait appears painted over Gotham City, with one of the city's streetlights peering through Hagen's hollow eye socket.
Beneath it, a smaller, undeformed Hagen can be seen running down the streets, creating a before-and-after contrast. It subtly functions as Hagen sprinting toward the monster he eventually becomes.
Previous Clayface posters leaned into the film's body-horror premise, showing Hagen's skin melting. However, this one takes the horror to a whole new level with the way it blends blood, melting skin, and eerie skulls. The most recent poster before this one showed half of Hagen's face deformed while the other side looked normal, but the new artwork leaves his entire face disfigured.
Notably, the posters have grown more terrifying with each release. Most depicted the duality of Matt Hagen, splitting his human form and his monstrous one. Here, though, the monster has fully taken over, with barely any humanity left, just a small silhouette of the man he used to be.
Clayface Will Lean Into Full Body-Horror When It Arrives in Theaters
Clayface has been marketed as an R-rated horror, and it has no intention of going soft on audiences. The MPA recently confirmed the movie's R rating, describing the DC Studios feature as containing "strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity, and brief drug use." The description sounds as brutal as the latest poster looks. It's also a milestone: Clayface is the DCU's first R-rated theatrical release. The film's trailer has given fans a taste of what's to come, with several shots showing Matt Hagen's body betraying him as his skin continuously sags and takes on a clay-like texture.
Leaning into full horror makes sense for the Matt Hagen story. The movie follows the actor as he tries to rise in Hollywood, only for his life to change forever when a gangster carves up his face on the streets of Gotham. As an actor, Hagen's face is his livelihood, and he is appalled by the damage done to his handsome looks. He seeks the help of a fringe scientist, Dr. Caitlin Corr, played by Naomi Ackie, who performs an experimental procedure on him, injecting a substance that eventually turns him into Clayface.
As scary as all the looks at Hagen have been, DC still hasn't shown his final form, which it's reserving for theaters. That form will be close to the Clayface seen in Creature Commandos, with DC confirming the two are the same character and the film serving as his origin story, set before the animated series.
In live action, that appearance is set to be one of the most twisted and grotesque depictions in the DCU so far. The trailer already hinted at how terrifying Clayface's final look will be, with a huge silhouette of the fully transformed villain appearing at the very end.
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.
