The “Clayface” movie delivers a blend of comic book backstory and body horror carnage as one of Batman’s most infamous villains gets the cinematic treatment for the first time. Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries plays Hollywood star Matt Hagen, who gets attacked by a Gotham gangster after sleeping with his girlfriend. The brutal assault completely ruins Hagen’s life, and he turns to an experimental serum created by scientist Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) to heal his facial scars.
Then, Hagen’s body starts morphing into something more monstrous — complete with gnarly prosthetic effects and gore. It’s a prime example of how James Gunn and Peter Safran are trying to make each project in the DC Universe feel completely unique — like HBO’s upcoming mockumentary “The People v. Gorilla Grodd.” If you enjoyed Hagen’s gory origin story and the crime drama that unfolds around him, then here are the TV shows to watch if you like “Clayface.”
The Batman
Cartoon Network/Warner Bros.
Matt Hagen might be the focus of the “Clayface” movie, but one of the best depictions of the character was a completely original take on the villain. “The Batman” series introduced a new addition to the Gotham City Police Department, Ethan Bennett (Steve Harris), who doesn’t appear in the comics at all. He’s a main character throughout the first season of the Kids’ WB series, but in the two-part finale, he gets tortured by the Joker (Kevin Michael Richardson).
The cackling clown injects him with a chemical called Joker Putty, which transforms him into the monster when he later gets in the shower. During these episodes, it’s heartbreaking to see Bennett grapple with the concept that his own personality and image have been wrenched away from him by Joker. Clayface later appears in Seasons 2 and 4, as Bennett relapses and falls back into villainy when Joker breaks free.
He eventually leaves his old self behind and completely becomes Clayface in the show’s most tragic storyline. The 2004 series is often overlooked by DC fans in favor of other depictions of Batman, including the beloved 1992 show, but Bennett’s Clayface storyline is a prime example of why it’s worth a watch.
Swamp Thing
Fred Norris/Warner Bros.
“Clayface” might have DC Comics body horror covered on the big screen, but “Swamp Thing” set the bar high on TV back in 2019. The series follows Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) as she tries to figure out the truth behind Alec Holland’s (Andy Bean) death and apparent resurrection as the Swamp Thing (Derek Mears). From there, the unlikely duo tackles horrors in the Louisiana swamps of both supernatural and man-made origin. Not only is the swamp a sprawling, practical set built for the show, but some of the entities that are unleashed are also brought to life using extensive, skin-crawlingly creepy prosthetics.
One of the most memorable moments is when a dead body in the morgue is reanimated by gnarled vines and roots which explode out of its orifices, attacking both Arcane and Holland in the pilot episode. The show also wastes no time exploring one of the more recent additions to the Swamp Thing mythology by introducing “the Rot,” a primordial force representing death and decay.
In Episode 3, a thug named Munson (Micah Fitzgerald) is consumed by the Rot: His dead body slowly fills with bugs, turning him into an undead creature that hunts Arcane. His bloated, rotting body looks utterly disgusting to the point where the stench threatens to burst out of our screens. The show is littered with moments like this, blurring the lines between comic book mystery and all-out horror.
Creature Commandos
While the “Clayface” movie takes place firmly in the DCU, with most of the story unfolding across Gotham City (and a brief hop over to Coast City), it feels very self-contained. However, we know that his story continues past the credits, as the monster shows up in HBO’s “Creature Commandos” animated series. He briefly appears in Episode 5 masquerading as Dr. Aisla MacPherson (Stephanie Beatriz) when Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour) and Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo) find him in her apartment.
The show depicts Clayface in his classic muddy look while he fights them both and shows off just how powerful he can be. Granted, there isn’t much connective tissue between the movie and TV show, but DC Studios head Peter Safran confirmed to EW that it’s the same version of the character that appears in both projects.
If you want to see what happens to Matt Hagen after the movie, “Creature Commandos” is your next port of call. For now, it’s not clear how he winds up working for Princess Illana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) as part of the Pokolistan conspiracy, considering where the movie leaves him. Hopefully Gunn will fill in the gaps soon.
The Penguin
Matt Hagen’s origin story in the movie sees gangster Markos Szabo (David Dencik) mutilate the Hollywood star in revenge for sleeping with his girlfriend. Because of this, there’s a huge focus on the criminal underbelly in Gotham City and how gangsters have a vice-like grip on the police and the justice system. If you enjoyed this element of the movie, then “The Penguin” will be a perfect next watch.
While “The Penguin” takes place in “The Batman” universe rather than the main DCU, it’s got a very similar flavor to the version of Gotham in “Clayface.” It follows Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) as he scrambles to fill the power vacuum left behind after the murder of Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) in the 2022 movie.
It also fills in Cobb’s own heartbreaking past, although it firmly keeps him on a wicked path rather than making him a sympathetic anti-hero. If anything, it pushes the gangster further into villainy by the end of the series. “The Penguin” is one of the best DC Comics live-action shows, and for good reason.
Batman: The Animated Series
Warner Bros.
After seeing Tom Rhys Harries mutate in theaters, it’s vital to return to “Batman: The Animated Series.” Not only is it one of the best superhero TV shows of all time, but Clayface takes the spotlight in a stunning two-part episode: “Feat of Clay.” Here, Ron Perlman voices actor Matt Hagen, who has become addicted to using a product called Renuyu to cover up scars he got in a car accident when he was younger. Hagen is forced into working for gangster Roland Daggett (Ed Asner) so that he can keep taking it.
When Daggett realizes Hagen could spill his guts to the authorities, he orders his goons to kill him — and they attempt to do so by overdosing him with Renuyu. Unfortunately for everyone involved, this transforms Hagen completely into the monstrous Clayface that DC fans know and love. Not only is the two-part story surprisingly intense for an animated series, but it’s also incredibly well
It dives into Clayface’s psyche as he struggles to comprehend what’s happened to him, much like the movie. In fact, horror maestro Mike Flanagan told ComicBook that the animated series inspired his script, saying: “Of course it was. I mean that is the perfect [story]. ‘Feat of Clay,’ Ron Perlman, to me, that’s it. That two-parter knocked me out. The short answer is that is absolutely what inspired my script. That is the world I wanted to live in.”
