‘Clayface’ interview: James Watkins, Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie and Max Minghella on the horrors of losing your face
The cast and filmmaker of the upcoming DC film 'Clayface' discuss the movie's exploration of body horror and the beauty-industrial complex. The film is part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DC Universe, which aims to balance traditional superhero stories with darker, more existential themes.
Why it matters
It highlights the shifting creative direction of major superhero franchises toward more psychological and genre-bending storytelling.
‘Clayface’ interview: James Watkins, Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie and Max Minghella on the horrors of losing your face center A still from ‘Clayface’ Warner Bros. Warner Bros. https://th-i.thgim.com/public/entertainment/movies/we810n/article71583769.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/Screenshot%202026-10-14%20180425.png As the DC Universe ventures into body horror, the filmmaker and cast of ‘Clayface’ discuss scientific hubris, Hollywood’s beauty-industrial complex, and the existential terror of no longer recognising yourself James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, organised under the ominously biblical banner of “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters”, has so far dedicated a disproportionate amount of time attending to the Gods in question, with Superman and Supergirl each bringing a spot of Kryptonian optimism to the big screen, and the expanding franchise making room for the Green Lantern Corps on television. James Mangold’s forthcoming Swamp Thing should eventually tilt the balance towards the more unsavoury residents of DC’s sprawling bestiary, but James Watkins’ Clayface is getting there first.
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