The superhero world received a little bit little bit of a shakeup this month when it was revealed that Mike Flanagan was not solely writing a Clayface film, however that it has already set a premiere date of Sept. 11, 2026. This got here as a shock to many as a result of it was anticipated that Matt Reeves’ sequel to his 2022 movie The Batman would come first, however alas, we’re getting Clayface a month prior, and now James Gunn has revealed the way it all took place.
Talking with io9 in celebration of the Superman launch trailer yesterday, the topic of Clayface was introduced up, and the way Flanagan received concerned in the entire thing to start with. Gunn revealed that the movie has been within the works for some time now, and whereas it’s not one thing he initially deliberate on making, Flanagan’s pitch and subsequent screenplay was too good to go up.
“I didn’t plan on making a Clayface film. Mike got here in. He pitched this glorious concept. I used to be like, ‘Rattling, I can’t imagine you bought me to need to make a Clayface film.’ However he’s received to jot down the script and who is aware of how that’s going to work. He goes and he writes the script. First draft is nice. Second draft is even higher. After which I’m like, ‘Let’s do it.’ So we discovered a spot for it as a result of if there’s high quality stuff, we are able to discover a strategy to work it in.”
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Little is understood in regards to the plot of Clayface proper now, or how he’ll match into Reeves’ plans for his trilogy transferring ahead. The villain made his debut in Detective Comics #40 in 1940, and was rumored to be the central antagonist in The Batman – Half 2, however these whispers had been shortly shut down by the director himself, who has but to verify who The Darkish Knight will face off with subsequent.
What Will a Mike Flanagan ‘Clayface’ Film Look Like?
Although a director has but to be discovered for Flanagan’s Clayface film, we are able to glean a little bit data as to what it’d appear to be primarily based on a few of his earlier work. Flanagan has lengthy been identified to ship heavy, character-driven items, equivalent to Physician Sleep, Gerald’s Sport, Hush, and his many Netflix exhibits like Midnight Mass. As such, we anticipate his Clayface script to lean into the his tragic historical past, whereas on the identical time staying grounded within the new universe Reeves has created, which is undoubtedly one of many darkest variations of Batman we’ve ever seen.
There’s additionally Flanagan’s personal phrases now we have to attract off of, because the director was requested again in 2021 if he had been to helm a DC film, which character would he like to deal with? His put up has since been deleted, however nothing on the web is actually ever gone, so his response provides us a little bit extra perception into how he’s dealing with the titular villain.
“Effectively I’ve wished to do a Superman film since I used to be a child, however I might even be actually eager to do a standalone Clayface film as a horror/thriller/tragedy.”
A “horror/thriller/tragedy” is completely on model for Flanagan, who stays as busy as ever as of late. Along with Clayface, The Lifetime of Chuck is ready to debut subsequent yr, and he’s additionally engaged on The Exorcist for Blumhouse, whereas on the identical time creating a Carrie sequence for Amazon. Contemplating he’s one among our favourite filmmakers of all-time, we’re not even mad as a result of – truthfully – we’ll take all of the Flanagan we are able to get. There’s only one query now we have for him: When’s The Darkish Tower going to be completed? Remember to try our interview with Flanagan above the place he discusses all types of subjects with MovieWeb’s personal Matt Mahler.