By George Bate
WARNING: The following contains full spoilers for Clayface
The third film in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s reimagined DC Universe film trades the spectacle of traditional superhero adventures for a Cronenberg body horror character study about vanity, desperation, and the terrifying consequences of trying to reclaim a life that can never truly be restored.
At the center of Clayface is Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a recently Oscar-nominated actor whose promising career is destroyed by a violent encounter with one of Gotham’s criminal underworld’s most vicious bosses. When conventional medicine fails to repair his disfigured face, he turns to an experimental procedure that promises to regenerate his damaged skin. The treatment initially appears to work, but its consequences eventually transform him into something far more frightening than he could have imagined.
As Hagen’s abilities grow, so does his willingness to use them against anyone standing in his way. His pursuit of revenge ultimately gives way to a murderous obsession, culminating in a transformation that brings the familiar comic book villain to life.
The film’s final moments, however, suggest that Hagen’s story is not finished. His survival raises questions about how he might fit into the DCU’s developing Gotham City and whether he could eventually become a formidable adversary for Batman.
Keep reading for a full description of what happens in Clayface and what it teases for the future of the DCU.
Matt Hagen’s Life Before His Transformation
Before he becomes a monstrous figure capable of transforming into anything and everything, Matt Hagen is an actor enjoying the kind of success most performers can only dream about. The film introduces him amid the ordinary routines of filmmaking, from preparing for scenes on a studio lot to making appearances in front of cameras on talk shows. His Academy Award nomination for Best Actor confirms that his career is reaching a defining moment, and the people around him share in his excitement.
But Hagen’s success comes with a significant vulnerability as his appearance is inseparable from his professional identity. As an actor, his face is his greatest asset, one that is stripped from by a dangerous criminal.
The Attack That Destroys Hagen’s Career
Hagen’s troubles begin when he celebrates his professional success with Corey, his longtime friend, at a night club in Gotham. During their night out, Hagen encounters Theresa Lopes, who is romantically involved with Gotham crime boss Markos Szabo. Corey understands that becoming involved with Theresa could expose his friend to serious danger, but Hagen disregards the warning and pursues the relationship. In response to Corey telling Hagen that Lopes is with Szabo, Hagen replies, “Not tonight she isn’t.”
His decision catches up with him the following morning. Szabo arrives with several associates and discovers Hagen in bed with Theresa. Enraged by the betrayal, he retaliates by having his men hold Hagen down and then repeatedly cuts Hagen’s face. Vertical cuts across his face and slitting his mouth are just some of the brutal ways in which Hagen is disfigured.
The aftermath is devastating. His future in the entertainment industry becomes uncertain, and his damaged appearance serves as a constant reminder of his humiliation. Making this all the worse is the fact that unfounded reports of Hagen’s problematic behavior in the past surfaces, essentially cancelling him.
The Procedure That Gives Birth to Clayface
Reconstructive surgery is Hagen’s first attempt to regain control of his life. He places his hopes in a surgeon, expecting medical intervention to restore the face that made him famous.
The results are disappointing. Instead of producing the transformation Hagen wants, the procedures leave his injuries looking more severe. His frustration deepens as each unsuccessful attempt makes his desired return to normality seem less attainable. It is later revealed that the surgeon tasked with fixing his face was actually doing multiple operations just to pocket the money.
Eventually, Hagen becomes so desperate that, after reading an article in a magazine, he pursues a meeting with Dr. Caitlyn Corr, played by Naomi Ackie. Corr is working on a regenerative treatment that uses artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to help damaged skin heal. The technology has not reached the stage where human testing would ordinarily be appropriate, largely due to Corr’s investors running away with the technology and trying to do their own thing, but Hagen’s willingness to participate gives her an opportunity to test its capabilities.
The initial outcome is extraordinary. Hagen’s face appears to regenerate rapidly, restoring his former appearance and allowing him to contemplate a return to public life. His renewed confidence leads him to attend the Gotham City premiere of a theatrical production in which he was originally supposed to appear before his injuries and cancellation forced him out. For a short time, the procedure seems to have accomplished exactly what he wanted.
Then the treatment begins to malfunction. At the premiere, Hagen experiences severe discomfort as his facial features begin to sag and distort. Alarmed by the deterioration, he returns to Corr in search of a solution. His desperation ultimately drives him to inject himself with an excessive amount of the experimental substance, far more than Corr has ever used or tested.
While Hagen feels and looks great after this rash action, the consequences catch up to him. Hagen’s body begins to behave like a substance that can be reshaped rather than ordinary human flesh. His skin shifts, his features collapse inward, and his face becomes increasingly difficult to control. Eventually, he discovers that he can reproduce the appearances of other people.
Initially, these changes seem connected to his emotions. Anger toward Corey, for example, causes Hagen’s face to take on his friend’s features. Desire toward Corr, meanwhile, causes him to take on Corr’s appearance.
Revenge Turns Hagen Into a Killer
Hagen’s transformation is not immediately accompanied by complete control over his abilities. As his body changes, he struggles to understand what is happening to him, and his instability begins to put other people in danger.
His former business manager, played by Eddie Marsan, becomes his first victim. Hagen does not initially intend to kill him, but the incident demonstrates how dangerous his condition has become.
Rather than bringing him to his senses, the death of Marsan’s character accelerates his descent. Hagen increasingly views the people around him through the lens of betrayal, blaming others for the suffering that has overtaken his life.
His relationship with Corey eventually collapses under the weight of that resentment. Convinced that his friend betrayed him during the civil proceedings against Szabo, Hagen kills him.
The loss of another important relationship leaves Hagen even more isolated. His powers, which initially offered the possibility of reclaiming his former identity, are now being used to punish those he considers responsible for his misfortune.
In a stunning climactic action sequence, Hagen returns to the club where he first encountered Theresa, bringing his transformation full circle. Unlike his earlier encounters with his powers, Hagen now has sufficient control over his appearance to change his face deliberately and use the ability to his advantage. The confrontation ends with Hagen killing Szabo and Theresa. The revenge he has pursued since the beginning of the film is finally complete.
Hagen Finally Makes the Transformation Into a Full-Fledged Villain
Hagen’s connection to Corr becomes increasingly disturbing as he develops romantic feelings for the scientist who treated him.
Corr, who is engaged to Gotham City detective Borrelli, appears to have some chemistry with Hagen, but is resistant to give into it. Hagen, however, gradually begins to treat that connection as something he is entitled to control.
After the climactic showdown, Hagen is visited by Borrelli, who is suspicious that all the people who wronged Hagen are suddenly dropping dead. Both to stop Borrelli’s investigation in its tracks and get rid of Corr’s fiance, Hagen kills Borrelli, taking another life because he cannot accept that Corr has a relationship beyond his own desires.
This act marks another decisive step in his transformation. Hagen’s feelings may seem genuine to him, but his behavior demonstrates that he has begun confusing affection with possession. Up until this point, every person Hagen has killed had directly wronged him by contributing to his disfigurement and subsequent cancelation in one way or another. But Borelli was completely innocent in this regard.
Upon discovering that Hagen has killed Borelli, Corr confronts Hagen, shooting him with a gun and causing him to fall out of a window into a stormy street below. Battered by rain, Hagen assumes the brown-gray form associated with the classic Clayface character, complete with an enormous frame and a grotesque, monstrous face. The transformation makes it impossible to mistake him for the actor he once was.
Faced with the creature he has become, Hagen begs Corr to end his suffering. She ultimately complies, and his body breaks down into a paste-like substance that flows into the sewers as she terminates the nanotechnology using her phone.
Corr believes the nightmare is over. But the apparent death of Hagen is only the beginning of the film’s final mystery.
Clayface’s Final Scene Reveals the Tragic Truth About Hagen
Following the confrontation, Corr attempts to return to ordinary life, but her experience has left her suspicious of the people she encounters. While walking through Gotham, she is approached by a homeless man who bows to her in a manner that recalls Hagen’s earlier behavior. The interaction is unusual enough to make her question whether she has truly escaped the consequences of her experiment.
The film ultimately confirms that her suspicion is justified. Matt Hagen has survived. Rather than being destroyed when his body dissolved, Hagen escaped into Gotham’s sewer system. His ability to change his appearance has allowed him to survive in a new form, even after Corr believed she had killed him.
The closing sequence reveals him recreating a conversation between himself and Corr, using his powers to play both sides of the exchange. The moment suggests that his emotional attachment to her has endured despite everything that has happened.
It is an unsettling ending as Hagen has not learned from his actions. He has lost his career, his friends, and his human appearance, yet he remains preoccupied with the woman whose treatment helped turn him into Clayface.
His survival also changes the meaning of Corr’s apparent victory. She may have stopped the monstrous form that confronted her, but she has not eliminated the threat Hagen represents. Now concealed beneath Gotham, he can potentially assume other identities and move through the city without being recognized. His abilities make him dangerous not only because of his physical strength, but because anyone he encounters could be another disguise.
For Hagen, this marks a tragic ending to his story, at least for the time being. The visual of him playing both Corr and himself speaks to how lonely and desperate for connection he is.
What Clayface Means for the Future of the DCU
Although Clayface takes place in Gotham, the film does not depend on cameos from Superman, Green Lantern, or other DCU heroes. Batman is notably absent, allowing Hagen’s story to develop independently of the larger superhero narrative.
The absence of Batman, however, does not mean the movie lacks significance for the franchise. Its greatest contribution may be the groundwork it establishes for future stories set in Gotham. The film presents Gotham as a city where criminal influence extends into institutions that should protect its residents. Szabo’s relationship with the police illustrates how deeply corruption has taken hold. His influence allows him to operate with considerable power, suggesting that Gotham’s problems cannot be solved simply by removing a single criminal.
Although Szabo is killed, the larger environment, including the corrupt police department, that enabled his activities remains. This creates a natural opening for future DCU projects to explore how other criminals might compete to fill the vacuum he leaves behind.
Perhaps the most significant development is the confirmation that Hagen remains alive after his apparent death. His shapeshifting powers could make him an especially challenging opponent for Batman. Unlike criminals who rely primarily on weapons, wealth, or physical strength, Clayface can potentially deceive people by assuming another person’s appearance. This unique ability opens the door to stories involving impersonation, unreliable identities, and investigations in which Batman cannot automatically trust what he sees.
Hagen’s psychological deterioration could also make him more complex than a conventional monster. He remains connected to his former life through his memories and feelings, but his obsession and violence have made it increasingly difficult to separate the man he was from the villain he has transformed into.
Clayface is now in theaters.