CLAYFACE Namedrops Several Iconic Batman Storylines

In the opening scenes of DC Studios’Clayface, we see how actor Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) receives his nomination for an Academy Award (or its DCU equivalent). We see several names of fictional films, and almost all of them are obvious references to Batman and DC Comics stories. Here are the main ones we noticed in James Watkins’ film, and which pieces of Batman media they pay homage to.

No Man’s Land

The first fictional movie name dropped in the nominations was No Man’s Land. While this is the actual title of a real film from 2020, it’s also a very famous Batman storyline from the late ’90s. The storyline ran from January to December 1999, and was a follow-up to the storyline “Cataclysm.” In that story, Gotham City suffers a major earthquake, leaving the city in shambles. “No Man’s Land” ran through 80 issues of Batman, Detective Comics, Shadow of the Bat, and other Gotham-related titles.

As part of the storyline, The U.S. Government evacuates and cuts off Gotham from the rest of the country after much of it becomes uninhabitable. They destroyed all bridges into the city, officially declaring it a “No Man’s Land.” Batman and several others like James Gordon, Nightwing,and Catwomanstay behind to protect the civilians who remained and deal with the criminals who have also stayed behind, hoping to carve up the city between themselves. Christopher Nolan loosely adapted this story inThe Dark Knight Rises.

The other title for a fictional film within the DCU is One Bad Day. And there is actually a Clayface-centric comic called Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, but its roots in Batman lore go back to the seminal Alan Moore graphic novelThe Killing Joke. In that story, the Clown Prince of Crime tries to convince Batman that all it takes for a sane man to go mad is “one bad day,” a day where everything goes wrong. In 2023, DC Comics published several one-shots featuring iconic Batman villains under the banner “One Bad Day.” These included Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Bane, the Riddler, and yes, Clayface. Only the Clayface in question was the Basil Karlo version, not Matt Hagen. Still, this is the most direct reference to a Clayface comic book.

Before the Flood

Before the Flood is the third name we caught from the fictional nominated films. This isn’t so much a nod to any Batman comics, but to Matt Reeves’ The Batman. In that movie, the Riddler destroys the levees keeping Gotham Bay back, flooding the entire city. This becomes a major plot point in the film, not to mention in The Penguin on HBO Max. Some DC fans speculated this proves once and for all that The Batman is a DCU story. However,Clayface director quickly debunked that notion. Stop dreaming folks, The Batman and the upcoming The Batman – Part II take place within a separate continuity.

Sagan

The final fictional film name-dropped in Clayface was a movie called Sagan. We admit, we first thought it was “Satan,” and Batman has fought demonic forces before. But no, it’s “Sagan,” as in world famous astronomer Carl Sagan. So it’s probably a fictional biopic of the man within the DC Universe. Now, it could be a deep, deep cut to grander DC Comics lore. There is a villain by the name Sagan Maximus in a few issues of Flashpoint, where Thomas Wayne as Batman was a character. And there’s a Dr. Sagan in the series Shade, the Changing Man, which is as unrelated to Batman as it gets within the DCU. Someone will have to ask screenwriter Mike Flanagan someday.