More news from the DCU today. This time from the murkier end, a world away from the bright colors and hopeful tights of heroes like Superman. The world of characters like Clayface and Swamp Thing.
First up, an interview has surfaced which has clarified where the body horror of Clayface fits into all this. DCU? Elseworlds? Standalone? The interview clears this up.
The Batman director Matt Reeves is on board as producer, and the interview was first reported by Batman News (via Dark Horizons) from the studio press kit for Clayface. Reeves tells the story:
“After THE BATMAN, I was very excited about this idea. THE BATMAN was not a Batman origin story, but what it did – because it was his first appearance in the city – it was an entree into origin stories for the Rogues’ Gallery.
After the movie, when we started working on the script for the next Batman, we began thinking it’d be really exciting to develop a bunch of stories that could be genre stories that related to the Rogues’ Gallery characters and explore their origins. And one of the things I got very excited about was the idea of looking for ways to do really cool, smaller horror films.
And [Screenwriter] Mike Flanagan came to me and said he had been a huge fan of Clayface – especially the iteration that came from the animated series – and had a passion about doing a horror story with Clayface at the core. So, we started developing it.
And as that story started coming together, becoming this sort of tragic love story – THE FLY meets this horror thriller – James [Gunn] and Peter [Safran] took over DC Studios, and that was one of the first things we pitched to them. They loved it so much, they wanted to make it one of the DCU movies. And we got very excited about the idea of taking this story into the DCU.”
So there you have it. Clayface will be the first look at Gotham City in the DCU.
Reactions from the premiere and screenings have been positive, with many surprised at just how far the movie pushes the body horror. It has been described as a real throwback to classic body horror works, with considerable “ick”.
At those screenings, DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran were both asked about future projects on the red carpet. Safran confirmed to Deadline that James Mangold’s Swamp Thing is actively being worked on:
“We’re working on it, absolutely. The script is being written as we speak. But it’s something we’re excited about. All these things take time – when you’ve already got a filmmaker involved, you’ve got to wait for their window [of availability] as well.”
If Mangold’s Star Wars project has stalled, as reported, then he could be clear for a run at Swamp Thing.
On the same red carpet, Gunn was asked about turning animated versions of Batman into movies, and he responded:
“Batman Beyond, certainly could be a good movie”.
Clayface opens October 23rd.
