CLAYFACE Concept Art Reveals Disturbing Alternate Designs From an Early Version of the DCU Horror Movie
DC Studios' Clayface could have given us a very different-looking monster, and some newly revealed concept art offers a creepy glimpse at what might have been.
Artist Carlos Huante has shared several disturbing early designs for the Batman villain, along with some interesting details about the movie's development before it was officially greenlit.
The artwork explores the character's grotesque transformation, leaning heavily into body horror rather than the familiar giant mud creature fans know from the comics. Some of the designs even resemble the diseased version of Clayface featured in Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum graphic novel.
Huante explained that he was brought in during the project's earliest stages, when the filmmakers were still figuring out exactly what kind of movie they wanted to make.
"I did some work on it before it was greenlit and it wasn’t clear what they were going to do with it at first but, it was an origin story and after this image it was clearer it was going to be a horror movie rather the Batman supervillain.. which is cool by me, but I still wanted to go for it with a full Clayface creature. But I was only hired for a week, and even that seemed to be a stretch for their budget. Weird times."
His approach suggests a version of Clayface that would have been horrifying to watch transform, with the character's physical deterioration playing a major role in the horror.
The artist also mentioned that his work was created when a "different director" was involved with the project. That has led to speculation about Mike Flanagan, who originally pitched the film and wrote the screenplay.
However, Flanagan was never officially attached to direct, even though he was eager to take the job. He recently explained why things didn't work out.
“I really wanted to do it, too. Though, when I was developing it, I thought it was going to be later in the DC rollout. I didn’t think it would be the character they’d focus on so soon.
“But they were eager to get it into production and I wasn’t anywhere near available. It wasn’t ‘Wait six months.’ It was, ‘No, I’m years away.’ So I completely understand why they would want to do that.”
As for the finished film, Clayface opened at No. 1 at the North American box office this past weekend, narrowly beating You Can See Everything despite landing toward the lower end of expectations.
Reviews and audience reactions have been mixed, leaving DC Studios hoping positive word of mouth will help the film find a larger audience over the coming weeks.
Regardless of how the movie performs, it's cool to see these early creative experiments. Huante's artwork offers a fascinating look at how far the filmmakers considered pushing Clayface's monstrous appearance, and some of these designs are seriously messed up in the best possible way.