New set pH๏τos confirm exactly why next year’s Batman villain movie is going to be R-rated. Set to release this time next year in 2026, Clayface is set to be the first major villain-centric movie in the new DCU. Keeping that in mind, it’s evident just how dark the movie is going to get.

Starring actor Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface, the upcoming DC movie will be directed by James Watkins and written by Mike Flanagan. Rather than being connected to Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise, Clayface is reportedly set in the new DCU continuity. Having just begun production, new set pH๏τos show why Clayface will be the DCU’s first R-rated movie.

Clayface’s First Set PH๏τos Give an Early Look At How Dark The DC Movie Will Be

Clayface will reportedly see the DCU’s Matt Hagen as a struggling actor who agrees to an experimental procedure following a major disfigurement to his face, seemingly merging the comic book origins of multiple versions of the villain seen on the page.

This will result in Hagen’s disturbing evolution as his body turns into a malleable, clay-like substance, allowing him to shape-shift. While the movie will lean into the body-horror elements of the character, new pH๏τos from the set of Clayface first show Harries bandaged and bloodied, most likely filming a scene not long after Hagen’s face is disfigured by a gangster.

Looking quite gruesome already, it’s going to be fascinating to see what Hagen’s various transformations will look like once he inadvertently gains the power to look like whomever he wants, albeit his new natural state being a disturbing monster made of clay.

Why Clayface Needed To Be An R-Rated DC Movie

Without a doubt, Clayface is easily one of Batman’s more fantastical foes in the original DC Comics. As such, it does seem as though the best way to adapt any version of the character is to take advantage of the horror elements of the character and how disturbing Clayface and his powers can truly be.

This explains the movie’s R-rating in order to truly capture what will likely be seen as one of the DC Universe’s more unsettling cinematic superpowers. In the same vein, the inciting violence and disfigurement seen in these new pH๏τos will likely be fully depicted as well, pulling no punches.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Clayface ends up being compared to Demi Moore’s The Substance when it is released next year, carrying some very similar concepts to the 2024 film. At any rate, the fact that these new DCU set pH๏τos are already quite grisly (pre-body horror shapeshifting) bodes well for the DCU’s first R-rated movie.

Clayface releases September 11th, 2026 from DC Studios.