Mike Flanagan’s DCU Movie Has a Perfect Opportunity to Avoid Sony’s Biggest Spider-Man Mistake

The new DC Universe by James Gunn is off to an interesting start, with the Creature Commandos TV series launching just as the first look at Superman is being released. One of the upcoming projects for the new shared universe is a movie about the Batman villain Clayface, with this being the character’s live-action cinematic debut. It might seem like a relatively random endeavor, especially given that the DCU Batman has not even been cast yet. Nevertheless, this actually makes for a perfect opportunity.

The upcoming Clayface movie may very well be where the DCU Batman makes his debut, and even if that’s not the case, it’s part of a wider DC cinematic universe. This is a far cry from Sony’s largely unsuccessful Sony Spider-Man Universe, which completely lacks the Wall-Crawler. Add in a much more artistic director (courtesy of a great filmmaker) and a reasonable budget, and it’s almost certain that the upcoming DC project won’t have feet of clay.

Mike Flanagan’s DCU Clayface Movie Is Now Confirmed

The Clayface Movie Is In the DCU, Not the ReevesVerse

A movie based on Clayface has been rumored for a while now, but the details on the project were scarce. Many fans questioned as to what shared universe, if any, it would be set in. Some were convinced that it might take place in the realistic world of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, with others thinking that it would instead be one of the many entries in the upcoming DC Universe reboot for the Caped Crusader. After all, the DCU Batman is set to be the focus, along with his son Damian Wayne as Robin, in the movie The Brave and the Bold.

Likewise, Clayface is making his DCU debut in the animated series Creature Commandos, so it would make sense if the movie is a prequel or sequel to its events. Now, the reality behind the movie has been revealed, and it makes total sense. The Clayface movie by horror icon Mike Flanagan will be set in the DC Universe and not the universe of The Batman and The Penguin. Thus, it will most definitely adapt the “mud monster” incarnation of the character, which is what most fans are used to. In particular, Flanagan has noted his affinity for the version of the Basil Karlo Clayface seen in Batman: The Animated Series, with that version shown as a former actor who undergoes an experimental procedure that allows him to shapeshift.

Given that this fits the more “comic book” nature of the DCU and the fact that Clayface has already been shown as the end result of this origin story, it fits that this is the one who’s going to make his cinematic debut. This take on Clayface would have made no sense in the ReevesVerse and would have potentially ruined its gritty crime drama tone. There are rumors, however, that the Golden Age masked serial killer version of Clayface may still appear in the sequel to The Batman. This would make Clayface more mainstream as a whole, showcasing multiple versions of the villain on the big screen.

How Budget and Genre Can Make Clayface a Success

The Movie Will Avoid the Bloated Budgets of Other Comic Book Movies

One issue currently being faced by superhero films and blockbusters as a whole is that of budget, with some movies simply not making enough to justify their production costs. Some of this is the result of COVID-19 restrictions for movies made in 2021 and 2022, but in the case of others that utilized exorbitant special effects, their costs went up due to less thoughtful filmmaking. Thus, they ended up costing far more than needed, and with many of these films having less-than-beloved critical reception and low audience interest, they ended up being box office disappointments, if not outright flops.

One major box office bomb for Marvel Studios in 2023 was Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels, which capped off what was an already difficult year at the box office. This was especially the pattern for sequels and major established franchises in that year. DC has also recently had its own major flop with the infamous 2024 sequel to 2019’s Joker. That movie’s $200 million budget was nonsensical for the product it delivered, and given its poor execution, the result was a major punchline of a box office run. Clayface will thankfully avoid a lot of this for a few reasons in particular.

Coming in at $40 million USD, the budget for the DCU Clayface film will be even smaller than that of the first Joker movie. This also puts it well below almost every superhero or comic book film in the past several years, with one of the few exceptions being the direct-to-video Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Likewise, it’s something of a passion project for Mike Flanagan, making for a sharp contrast to the veritable disinterest that Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips had for his own movie.

This makes it more than just a movie that’s cynically used as content for a shared universe or mere padding for a streaming service. It’s clear that Flanagan wants to make the movie and has a story to tell, which is why it took a while to get things finalized by way of James Gunn. With everything going in the right direction now, audiences should be in for a treat. The movie should also be an easy win at the box office, especially if one major character makes even a small appearance in the film.

Batman’s Appearance Will Automatically Make Clayface Sell

Batman’s Presence In Clayface Will Make It the Anti-Kraven the Hunter

It’s almost certain that Batman will appear at some point in the Clayface movie, especially if the “Feat of Clay” episode from Batman: The Animated Series is adapted. Batman’s characterization could be done in a horror capacity, which would fit the tone of the film. The Caped Crusader could also be contrasted with Clayface, showcasing how Batman is just as monstrous to those he opposes. More than likely, the film will be released before The Brave and the Bold, so Clayface could be the debut of the DCU version of Batman.

Even if his role in the movie is minute overall, the mere brief presence of Batman is something of a selling point. It would immediately establish that this is part of a wider DC Universe, namely one in which The Dark Knight is already active and fighting criminals. That’s a key part of bringing the legacy of the DCU to life, and it will help the new shared universe to do the opposite of another, less successful cinematic world. The Sony Spider-Man Universe started in 2018 with Venom, but despite the name, Spider-Man himself has been completely absent from the films.

Characters such as Venom, Morbius, Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter have been introduced and made completely independent of the Web-Slinger, despite how much some of their classic origins require his presence. The overall lack of direction or quality in the films has made all but the Venom trilogy into critical and financial disasters, and even in the case of the Lethal Protector, his movies have made less with each entry. Add in the fact that Peter Parker himself is nowhere to be seen, and it’s clear why audiences are largely uninterested in this offshoot of the Spider-Man film franchise.

The SSU is largely a way for Sony to profit from the Spider-Man cinematic license, but without the Web-Slinger himself as a major selling point, the movies have not been able to sell on their own merits. On the whole, the movies are largely just content and not even truly building up to any sort of overarching story. This is another detail that makes the movies unable to stand on their own or be enjoyed as parts of a whole.

As noted, Clayface can be the exact opposite of the Sony Spider-Man Universe, especially if Batman is actually in the film. There seems to be a lot more attention to detail and love for the source material than what has been observed in any of the SSU films released in the last six years. Additionally, Mike Flanagan has made several beloved horror films and TV shows, namely Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. He has a definite flair for the genre, especially when it comes to more Gothic and subdued sensibilities.

This talent and knowledge of the milieu is what’s needed to make any movie work, but especially a genre film. It also means that having Flanagan on board and driving the story is a major selling point for casual audience members who are already familiar with his work in the horror genre. This will hopefully see the finished product go down as one of the greats among comic book adaptations, with Mike Flanagan molding Clayface into a true masterpiece.