- 7 hours ago
Not all clay is created equal! Join us as we count down the biggest differences between Clayface's comic book origins and his portrayal on the big screen! From his shape-shifting abilities and tragic backstory to his enemies and motivations, there's plenty to unpack when comparing these two versions of Batman's most terrifying villain. Which version of Clayface is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the biggest differences between the 2026 film Clayface and
00:07the character the titular character is based on from DC Comics.
00:11Beware of spoilers.
00:12The procedure is causing troubling physical changes.
00:18Number 8. Missing Bat.
00:20Since the villain's comic debut in 1940, Clayface has long been tied to Batman, especially since his first appearance was
00:28in the Dark Knight-centric series Detective Comics.
00:30More often than not, even when Clayface spread into other mediums, the Bat was involved in one form or another.
00:37One exception was in 2026's Clayface.
00:40What do you want, Miss Hagen?
00:42I want my life back.
00:44Instead, the creators decided to take a page out of 2019's Joker by focusing on the titular baddie, and also
00:51sprinkling references to the Bruce Wayne mythos.
00:53After all, in Clayface, we do get a scene at the Wayne Community Center, but that's about it.
00:59There was no Batman thinking outside the box about how to take down Matt Hagen, even though all his crimes
01:04are happening in Bruce's home of Gotham.
01:06There wasn't even a mid- or post-credits scene with the Caped Crusader or a Bat family member.
01:11Instead, Hagen's tale was superhero-free.
01:14What's happening to me?
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01:30fun.
01:30That's the training.
01:32The training is awesome.
01:34The will is everything.
01:35Number 7.
01:36Coast City Connection
01:38In DC Comics, Coast City has had a rough history.
01:42After all, in 1993, the home of Green Lantern Hal Jordan was destroyed by Mongol, taking millions of lives.
01:50This trauma caused Hal to turn on the Green Lantern Corps and rampage across the universe as he morphed into
01:56the villain Parallax.
01:57While Coast City was later rebuilt, that brutal history continued to haunt it as folks were not keen to relocate
02:04there again.
02:04At least to begin with.
02:05I know you. You're famous.
02:07Well, in 2026's Clayface, Hagen also calls the place home.
02:12After growing up in Gotham's Narrows, a very bleak place that desperately needs help, he moved to Coast City as
02:19his acting fame rose.
02:20When his career and life collapsed, Hagen went back to the Narrows.
02:24If you're harboring feelings of anger, you need to let them go.
02:28Yet in the comics, Hagen has no strong connection to Coast City.
02:32Instead, he is associated with Gotham.
02:36Number 6. Caitlin Kaur's Creation
02:38When it comes to body horror content, a fun ingredient is dropping in a love interest.
02:43Show me.
02:46Show me.
02:47After all, it raises the fun question of who could love a monster.
02:51For the 2026 film, Dr. Caitlin Kaur takes on that responsibility.
02:56With Hagen desperate to repair his damaged face, he begged Caitlin to use him as a test subject for her
03:01experimental nanite technology.
03:03Eventually, with a funding problem, she agreed.
03:06This isn't cosmetic surgery.
03:09Even if it kills me, I'll be better off than I am now.
03:13Yet during that time, Hagen falls head over heels in love with her, as Caitlin struggles to understand her feelings
03:19for him.
03:20While Caitlin doesn't have a comic counterpart, she might be based on the animated DC character Stella Bates from Batman
03:26the Animated Series, as they share a similar backstory.
03:29In the episode Mudslide, the doctor-slash-actor was madly in love with Hagen, so she used her medical skills
03:36and cash to try to cure him of his clayface issue, with limited success.
03:41Please, stop it!
03:42Thanks, Stella!
03:44Do you want that Hagen?
03:45Or this?
03:48No.
03:49Number 5. The BFF's Possible Origins
03:52Throughout his rise to being Oscar-nominated, Hagen had one person who stood by him through it all.
03:58Corey Bowery
03:59The duo were childhood best friends who both tackled the acting industry together.
04:04The people I trusted betrayed me.
04:05While Hagen found greater success, Corey appeared to be happy for him, and protected his BFF.
04:11Until it emerged he'd betrayed his pal.
04:14So, Hagen takes his life and assumes Corey's identity on set.
04:18Like several characters in the film, Corey doesn't have an exact comic counterpart.
04:22However, there is a similarly named character in the 2023 comic, Batman One Bad Day Clayface.
04:30In this tale, Basil Carlo, more on him later, gets jealous when his friend Corey Jameson gets a part in
04:36the adaptation film, The Killing Joke, which he had also auditioned for.
04:39So, Carlo murders Corey and takes on his identity on set.
04:43However, Carlo's pretentiousness gets him fired, and he goes on a killing spree.
04:48Number 4. Hagen's not the first or only one
04:51The 2026 film seems to point to Hagen being the first and only person to have the title of Clayface.
04:58Is that so bad?
04:59We can infer this because no one who had experienced something similar is mentioned.
05:03Yet in the comics, as we alluded to earlier, Hagen isn't the first or only Clayface.
05:08In fact, there have been a lot.
05:10But we'll focus on the major 8.
05:12Basil Carlo debuted in 1940's Detective Comics number 40.
05:16However, rather than being a gross putty monster, Carlo originally had no abilities and wore a clay mask as he
05:23took lives.
05:24Later, he got Clayface powers.
05:26Following Carlo was Hagen, who arrived in 1961.
05:29Next to take the Clayface mantle was Preston Payne in 1978,
05:33who tried to cure his hyperpituitarism with Hagen's DNA, only to be drastically changed.
05:38Sondra Fuller was introduced in 1987 and became best known as Lady Clay.
05:44Finally, we have Cassius Payne in 1994, Peter Malley in 1997,
05:49Todd Russell in 2001, and Johnny Williams in 2004.
05:53Number 3. Treasure Hunter
05:55The 2026 film took heavy inspiration from Hagen in Batman the Animated Series,
06:00which essentially used Carlo's acting backstory for Hagen, albeit with actual powers.
06:05What in the name of heaven?
06:09Back off!
06:10For many people, this is Clayface's de facto origin story.
06:14Yet the Hagen that first appeared in 1961's Detective Comics number 298 was not an actor,
06:20or involved in the arts or entertainment.
06:23Instead, he was a treasure hunter.
06:25While scuba diving for sunken goodies, Hagen stumbled across a pool of protoplasm in a cave.
06:30After he accidentally fell into a pool of mysterious liquid,
06:33Hagen discovered his body was moldable like clay and was able to change his appearance,
06:39immediately putting him on the path to crime.
06:41Hagen later discovered that he could also replicate the powers of those he mimicked,
06:45including Superman, which sounds like a massive problem for the heroes.
06:50Number 2. Power Top-Up
06:51Comics, especially during the Golden and Silver Ages,
06:55like to have limitations on characters, giving them clear weaknesses.
06:58For example, the OG Green Lantern, Alan Scott, did not do well with wood.
07:04For Hagen, it was a time limit on his abilities.
07:07After he'd frolicked in the pool of protoplasm or used the synthetic version he used later,
07:11depending on the story,
07:12he had between 5 hours and 2 days before his Clayface powers vanished,
07:16and he was reverted to his human form again.
07:19In the film, that was not the case whatsoever.
07:21I'm okay.
07:22You okay?
07:23I'm okay.
07:25I feel great, actually.
07:27The nanotech process began slowly, with several small injections.
07:31But when Hagen's face began reverting to its damaged self as his mental health deteriorated,
07:36he overdosed on the substance, ramping up his abilities even more.
07:39As a result, movie Hagen doesn't require additional injections to keep his powers.
07:44Instead, for better or worse, he had them permanently.
07:48I have no idea who you are.
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08:00Are you not entertained?
08:02Number 1.
08:04The Initial Tragedy
08:05While the film version of Hagen borrows heavily from Carlo's tale,
08:09there is still a vast difference between the movie and Carlo's comic origins in Becoming the Monster.
08:14I'm a monster.
08:17In Clayface, after sleeping with Mia Torres, Hagen is attacked the next morning by her partner,
08:22mobster Marco Szabo and his goons, wounding his face beyond repair.
08:26Originally in the comics, non-powered Carlo went mad with jealousy when a remake of his film wouldn't feature him,
08:33causing him to go on a killing spree.
08:35Following Rebirth, his origin was changed again.
08:38This time, his father worked as a special effects artist who used a toxic substance called Renew to change actors'
08:44appearances.
08:44As Carlo's acting career was taking off, he accidentally crashed his car after hearing of his dad's passing, severely damaging
08:51his face.
08:52So, he used Renew to maintain his looks, eventually descending into crime to afford it.
08:57Then, after being covered in Renew, Carlo became Clayface.
09:01Which other DC supervillain should get the Clayface treatment and get their own horror film?
09:06Let us know in the comments.