New Delhi: After giving generations of superhero fans one of cinema’s most memorable villains in the Joker, DC Studios is bringing another iconic baddie to the big screen. Clayface has received favourable reviews from critics, earning a 76 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes. This makes DC’s attempt at body horror a promising sign that it could bring more dark and unsettling villains from its comic catalogue to the screen.
The film is directed by James Watkins and follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a Hollywood actor whose life takes a harrowing turn when a criminal disfigures his face. He turns to a scientist in a bid to get back his charming face, but the procedure has side effects and transforms him into the villain Clayface. His body literally starts transforming into clay, which he tries to control, but he gradually turns into a monstrous figure.
The character Clayface dates back to 1940, when he was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. He first appeared in Detective Comics under the name Basil Karlo. Originally, he was not a mud monster but a B-list actor who was enraged when he learned that the only movie that had made him famous, The Terror, was being remade without him. To take revenge, he donned the mask of the movie’s villain, Clayface, and began murdering the film’s cast and crew.
But by 1961, in issue number 298, the mantle had been passed to Matt Hagen, who fell into a radioactive pool. This was where the iconic shape-shifting mud monster concept was introduced for the first time. Another character, Preston Payne, later injected himself with Hagen’s blood, gaining a tragic power that allowed his touch to melt organic matter.
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The ultimate mud monster
In 1989, the entire concept underwent a reboot when, in issue number 604, Basil Karlo returned as Clayface. He united the other existing Clayface characters and called them the “Mud Pack”, only to betray them and inject himself with their DNA. He then transformed into the ultimate mud monster.
The biggest reboot, and the version closest to what is shown in the latest film, came when DC streamlined Clayface’s origin. In this version, Karlo tries to fix his face using an experimental chemical called Re-Nu, which alters his cellular structure and turns him into a mud monster.
By 2016, Clayface had become part of Batman’s Gotham Knights, a tactical team featuring Batwoman, Red Robin, and Orphan. He helped them on several missions but eventually lost control in the 2018 comics and went on a rampage in Gotham. He was destroyed by Batwoman, although a few pieces of his body were secretly preserved.
In Batman: One Bad Day comic series, Clayface tries to return to acting and rebuild his life, but his obsession with fame once again awakens his darker side, leading him down a destructive path.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)