Batman's Status In Clayface Confirmed By DCU Boss

Published Oct 22, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT

Andy Behbakht has worked as an entertainment journalist since 2010, covering all the latest in Hollywood on both the big and small screens, from staying on top of the biggest breaking news, analyzing movies and television shows in Hollywood, to in-depth interviews with actors and storytellers.

Andy's career includes having worked for publications such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It's Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more. Outside of his career as an established reporter, Andy is the host and producer of The Showrunner Whisperer, The Flash Podcast, the editor-in-chief of Multiverse of Color, and the network director of DC TV Podcasts.

The world is still waiting to see how Batman will be depicted in the DC Universe franchise.

While 2026 is nearing its end, the DCU's Chapter 1: "Gods and Monsters" still has one more project to release before the year is officially over. Following Supergirl and HBO's Lanterns, James Gunn's superhero continuity is about to visit Gotham City, while also entering the horror genre.

In a new interview with Collider, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran elaborated more on Batman's status in Clayface, given that the Dark Knight won't be showing up in the comic book film release. After confirming with a simple "yes" that the DC legend is operating somewhere else during the events of the horror feature, the executive was asked how much he and Gunn discussed about what this world's Caped Crusader is doing at this point in the franchise.

Safran stated, "We haven't really talked about what he's doing during the actual events of Clayface." However, he put emphasis on the fact that the Gotham City crime-fighter "is there. This is the introduction to the live-action Gotham. We showed a silhouette of Batman in Creature Commandos, so you know he's around, but this is the first step into the world of Gotham for us."

During Creature Commandos season 1, viewers got to see Batman through a flashback during Doctor Phosphorus' origin story in the DCU timeline, but that wasn't the only glimpse they got of the popular superhero. The famous vigilante was one of the many Justice League characters who were seen dead in Circe's flash-forward, as the Wonder Woman foe showed Amanda Waller the future that was in store for them if Princess Ilana Rostovic didn't get stopped.

Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order.

The Clayface movie also takes place prior to the events of Creature Commandos, as the version of the shapeshifter who appeared in the animated ensemble has been confirmed to be Tom Rhys Harries' Matt Hagen. In the HBO Max series, Matt was voiced by Alan Tudyk, as the British actor had not been cast when season 1 aired on the streaming platform.

Even though Bruce Wayne is not part of the plot, Harries recently hinted that Clayface may allude to Matt and Naomi Ackie's Caitlyn Corr being aware of Batman's presence in the DCU. While speaking with ComicBook, the lead star teased, “We have footage... and I don’t know how much I can say. But yes, we had discussions about that at length.” In terms of what "footage" means in this context, it remains to be seen, as it could be in-world archival footage with a silhouette being featured, without the need for an actor to be cast as the DC icon, similar to how they did it in Creature Commandos.

While James Watkins' Clayface may not necessarily set up The Brave and the Bold film that is in development at DC Studios, it will still give viewers a greater sense of what the DCU's Gotham is like, with perhaps teases of Matt's future conflicts with Batman down the line. Whether it's through Easter eggs or other forms of allusions to Bruce, audiences will have to catch the R-rated entry to find out what hints there may or may not be of the world's greatest detective.

Clayface opens in theaters on Friday, October 23.

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  Tom Rhys Harries

  Matt Hagen / Clayface

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  Naomi Ackie

  Dr. Caitlin Bates

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  David Dencik

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  Max Minghella