First Look at James Gunn's Live-Action Gotham City Decor (Photos)

Gotham City was the centerpiece in images from a new movie in James Gunn's live-action DC Universe. After 2025's Superman introduced this franchise's take on Metropolis, Gotham is the next major DC location fans have on their radar as this universe is further developed. While this universe's Batman still seems to be quite far from debuting, his home base is slowly coming into the forefront.

New set photos showed DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn's interpretation of Gotham from the 2026 Clayface movie. Clayface will be the third movie in Gunn's new DC Universe, following Superman's premiere in July 2025 and Supergirl's upcoming arrival in June 2026. Considering Clayface's place as one of Batman's biggest DC villains, unsurprisingly, Gotham will play a major role in his story.

Shared by @DevilsDefend on X, set photos showed a building labeled, "The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts" from the Clayface set in Liverpool, UK. An emergency entrance is also clearly labeled on the outside of the first floor, and a red tent stands outside the door.

Beyond the front door, other pictures (per @Calorinacharcon) showed a white pick-up truck parked in the front lot. That truck is labeled with "GothamNews1.com," teasing a news broadcast coming from this undisclosed location.

Another news van sits outside the building on set, this one labeled "Gotham Broadcasting Channel" and using a red and grey color scheme.

@DevilsDefend shared more photos from outside the Law Courts building, one of which included a few trash bins labeled with Gotham's name on the side.

The wall on this building includes a few pieces of graffiti, teasing the age of some of Gotham's more urban areas.

Amidst the graffiti, fans can see a homemade poster for "Alias Insane," which seems to advertise a local band performance in the area.

Fans get a wider-angle shot of the entire complex in another picture, which shows the outside of the building and both new companies' vans parked in front of it.

@lilyfnrose posted an image of a bright red newspaper dispenser holding copies of the Gotham Gazette. On the cover is a headline that reads, "Seeing Red," and the subtext below it reads as follows:

"Crime Syndicate boss Jimmy ‘Red’ McCoy to be investigated for Income Tax Evasion. Red’s Lawyers prepare for case of the year."

For reference, Gotham also showed up in Episode 6 of James Gunn's Creature Commandos series, the first DCU project released and the franchise's first animated property on HBO Max. This look at Gotham was limited to wide-angle views of the city at night, but it gave a sense of how it will feel in later movies and TV shows.

While one image shows a look at Gotham from above the skyline, another shot takes things lower to street-level, where crime and chaos run rampant across the city.

Later in the episode, fans got their first glimpse at the DCU's take on Batman as he loomed outside a roof window with lightning striking behind him. 

Clayface is currently in the early stages of filming, as DC Studios looks to give the classic Batman villain his first solo movie in the new DC Universe. Directed by James Watkins, written by Mike Flanagan, and starring Tom Rhys Davies and Naomi Ackie, the story focuses on a rising movie star whose face is disfigured by a gangster, leading him to turn to a scientist to help him fix his look. Clayface is due to debut in theaters on September 11, 2026.

When To Expect More From James Gunn's Live-Action Gotham

Outside of early set photos for the new Clayface movie, Gotham remains a mystery for the DCU in the early stages of James Gunn's new franchise. However, the lore behind this key location for the blue brand is starting to build a rep through other projects in the Chapter 1 story.

Peacemaker Season 2 showed Keeya and Leota Adebayo speaking about a previously discussed move back to Gotham in the midst of their divorce. Additionally, fans heard a mention of Blüdhaven, a crime-ridden fictional town located between Gotham City and Atlantic City, when Keith Smith mentioned the area by name in Episode 1 after John Cena's Chris Smith found a door to an alternate reality.

Gotham is sure to be pivotal in future stories for the DCU, including the highly anticipated The Brave and the Bold, but plans for projects like that one are still in the early stages of development.

While this massive city may not be shown off in full until Clayface or a future Batman project, Gunn remains hard at work making sure his take on the city brings everything comic and DC movie fans expect to see from Batman's home base.