When James Gunn first introduced his preliminary plans for the DCU and its all-new interconnected universe, it got here with affirmation {that a} new tackle Batman would arrive in a film that put the Bat-Household at first. As they are saying, Batman plans and New Gods snicker. Adjustments in schedule and different elements (just like the Elseworlds canon The Batman) have pressured the DCU’s Batman to take a again seat. To make issues much more difficult, although, alongside recreation Mike Flanagan with the wild thought for a tragic physique horror film concerning the DC villain Clayface.
Now that the movie has arrived, the choice to make a Clayface film earlier than an actor has even been forged as Batman within the DCU nonetheless appears even stranger for a significant cause: There aren’t any references to the Darkish Knight detective in any respect within the film. The excellent news for followers who’re puzzled by this determination is that it is smart for DC Studios when enjoying the lengthy recreation, nevertheless it’s nonetheless one thing utterly baffling in execution and places Clayface alongside different villain-centric films that couldn’t discover their id.
Clayface Would Make You Assume Batman Doesn’t Exist At All
Regardless that Clayface is about within the iconic DC location of Gotham Metropolis, there’s nothing to point that this model of Gotham is host to Batman within the slightest. Not solely are there no mentions of the vigilante within the dialogue, regardless of loads of scenes the place gangsters and cops might at the very least drop a tease, there’s additionally nothing within the many newspaper headlines or TV information chyrons that pop up throughout the film. When you didn’t know higher, you would possibly suppose that Clayface was getting his powers effectively earlier than Bruce watched a bat fly by the window of his research at Wayne Manor.
Not solely is there no reference to Batman within the slightest, however there are additionally no teases about Bruce Wayne both. There aren’t any seen buildings with an apparent “Wayne” moniker on the high in neon lights, and once more, no point out within the many (MANY) information headlines discovered all through the movie. References to Gotham areas just like the Narrows and Amusement Mile might be discovered, however even Crime Alley will get no sort of shout-out. It’s like there’s nothing happening within the margins of this Gotham, making it really feel much less like a dwelling location and extra like simply one other metropolis.
Previous to Clayface, although, the DCU has already very clearly established that Batman exists. Within the animated sequence Creature Commandos, which additionally featured Clayface’s first canonical look, the darkish knight detective is glimpsed in a quick second, although his design isn’t totally revealed due to standing in shadow. Even only a few weeks in the past, Lanterns made it clear that Batman is working when Man Gardner made a reference to him when talking about his personal “Lantern sign.”
On high of all that, followers know that James Gunn’s plans for Batman within the DCU are about incorporating the bigger Bat-Household alongside him, that means that by the point he does seem in The Courageous and the Daring, there’ll seemingly be years of historical past already effectively behind him. All of these mix right into a crystal-clear image that not solely does Batman exist within the DCU, however that individuals know who he’s; however should you watched Clayface, you would possibly suppose that this film exists in a complete vacuum like Venom from Spider-Man.
Clayface’s No Batman Resolution Is DC Hedging Its Bets
It’s simple to see why Clayface determined that the very best plan of action in addressing a Batman that hasn’t truly been forged or designed was to easily ignore it (annoying because it could be for followers). The results of hinting at one thing to do with Batman or Bruce Wayne in Clayface would find yourself being handled as gospel by DC followers, lots of whom would both count on that very same element to be addressed once more down the street or learn far an excessive amount of into it than was ever meant. Even additional than that’s that DC Studios doesn’t need this subsequent model of Batman to get locked into one thing that was determined years beforehand.
Think about if an image of Batman was seen in Clayface that confirmed both his costume and even the Batmobile. The outcome could be enjoyable for followers now, however what about after they begin designing each of these issues for The Courageous and the Daring? It could probably pressure the franchise and a filmmaker who had no selection in a earlier film’s manufacturing to stay to a design that followers already determined they favored.
There’s additionally the chance that DC Studios was maintaining Clayface utterly remoted within the occasion they determined that the film was a standalone title that they might ignore. Now, the important consensus appears to point that audiences who’ve seen the film fairly prefer it, at the very least greater than films like Morbius or Madame Net. So regardless that it’s potential that DC might have been planning for a future the place they might wipe Clayface from canon, it appears secure to say that received’t occur.
The large query stays, although: how will Clayface find yourself connecting to the bigger DCU? Regardless that main cities get namedropped all through the movie, Clayface remains to be fairly remoted, and regardless of ending in a method that makes it clear the character is out on this planet and in a position to get picked up by another person with a narrative, his time within the highlight might simply as simply be over.