Clayface 2: What’s Next For The DCU’s Matt Hagen (Everything We Know)

Published Oct 26, 2026, 9:01 PM EDT

Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero. 

With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention.

Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Clayface (2026)Thanks to the DCU's new Clayface movie, DC Studios has given one of Batman's most unique villains a fully tragic and all kinds of disturbing body-horror story, giving Matt Hagen a nightmarish live-action debut on the big-screen. Although the new movie has only just been released, Clayface's future in the DCU is well worth discussing.

Starring Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, the Gotham-born Hollywood actor's appearance and career are destroyed after getting on the wrong side of a major crime boss, resulting in a desperate decision to undergo experimental treatments that initially repair his face yet gradually corrupt him into a full monster just like in the comics. Likewise, the new movie leaves him with a pretty wide-open future going forward that definitely deserves to be explored.

Not only do Clayface's final moments leave Hagen in a very dark place, but his first appearance elsewhere in the DCU tells us a bit about what his future may look like. Keeping that in mind, here's what we know about what a potential Clayface 2 could look like, as well as Matt Hagen's future in the DCU in general.

Clayface Ends By Giving Matt Hagen A Dark New Status Quo

© Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Clayface's tragically dark ending leaves Matt Hagen seemingly dead after Dr. Caitlyn Corr tases him in the rain before activating a kill switch designed to shut down the overdose of nanites in his body responsible for his dark new shapeshifting powers. After his major killing spree on those who wronged him and Hagen's final murder of Corr's fiancée before impersonating him to win her affections, Caitlyn finally sees how monstrous Matt has become. He even begged her to kill him before she activated the device and his dissolving body drained away into the sewers.

The result is the public believing Matt Hagen to have died, though the final scene of Clayface confirms that Matt (and his powers) survived. Now disguised as a homeless man, it's revealed that Matt Hagen has a hideout in Gotham's underworld, left only with a manifestation of Corr whom he's disturbingly created from his own body. Ultimately, the final shot sees Matt transforming into a monstrously comic-accurate hulk of brown sludge, fully transformed into the Clayface readers are familiar with on the page.

How Clayface Connects To Matt Hagen's Creature Commandos Appearance

Image via Max

Although the DCU's new Clayface movie tells the origin story of Matt Hagen, 2024's animated Creature Commandos was technically his first DCU appearance in the present day. In the first season, Hagen was hired by Princess Ilana Rostovic of Pokolistan to impersonate Professor Aisla MacPherson, a crucial part of a major scheme allowing the princess to maintain her innocence while planning a major global takeover, one that a vision of the future confirmed would have included Gorilla Grodd (who will soon receive his own live-action DCU with the upcoming series entitled The People vs Gorilla Grodd).

Although Clayface's impressive shapeshifting abilities make him an ideal accomplice in Creature Commandos, he was ultimately discovered by Rick Flag Sr. and Eric Frankenstein, who confront Hagen and take him down via electrocution.

As such, Clayface's animated appearance in present-day DCU establishes that Matt eventually becomes a professional criminal for hire, willing to use his extraordinary abilities for the highest bidder. It definitely makes sense given Clayface's ending. Having left himself with nothing and no one from the life he once had, it follows that Matt would turn to a life of crime and continue to make use of his dark new powers.

Likewise, Matt Hagen's survival in Clayface also raises an interesting question about his fate post-Creature Commandos, as it further confirms that while electrocution is seemingly enough to stop him temporarily, it's by no means lethal. For the time being, the events between Clayface and Creature Commandos remain undefined, though that clear gap of time provides plenty of room for future storytelling in the DCU, whether Clayface is given another chapter before Creature Commandos, or receives a potential sequel set more in the present day of James Gunn's new shared superhero cinematic universe.

What A Clayface Sequel Could Be About (Will Batman Be Involved?)

At the time of writing, DC Studios hasn't officially announced Clayface 2, though it's more than likely that Matt Hagen will have some sort of future in the DCU going forward (James Gunn himself has teased as much). While that doesn't necessarily guarantee a direct sequel, it does mean Hagen's story has room to grow beyond the events of his debut solo movie. While we could easily see more of Hagen in something like Creature Commandos' upcoming second season, one of the most exciting stories has perhaps already been written.

A particularly compelling direction might be to adapt elements from Batman: One Bad Day — Clayface, the 2023 comic by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Xermánico. In the comic, Basil Karlo's Clayface attempts to pursue his dream of becoming a famous actor again under a fully new identity, though things eventually spiral out of control as he tries assuming multiple different identities at once and committing increasingly disturbing crimes to achieve his obsession with stardom.

Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Seeing as how the DCU's Matt Hagen is largely based on Batman: The Animated Series' version of Hagen, which notably used Karlo's acting background, it could be a great fit for the character as he tries to infiltrate the entertainment industry and become whatever and whoever he thinks it wants him to be, only to find the goal impossible due to the simple fact that by being anybody, he's actually nobody.

Likewise, Clayface's One Bad Day story culminates with a confrontation with Batman himself, something that would be very exciting to see in a future sequel (assuming it would likely release after the DCU's Batman makes his debut in Brave and the Bold).

For now, Matt Hagen's next appearance as Clayface remains unconfirmed, and it's unclear whether his return will happen in a direct sequel or another DCU project. Regardless, his survival, horrifying powers, and established ties to the events of Creature Commandos leave room for plenty of possibilities going forward. Without a doubt, Matt Hagen's story as Clayface is far from over, and absolutely deserves to continue.

Clayface is now playing in theaters from DC Studios.

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  Tom Rhys Harries

  Matt Hagen / Clayface

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  Naomi Ackie

  Dr. Caitlin Bates