Clayface Director Explains R-Rated DCU Horror Movie's Ending

Published Oct 27, 2026, 12:42 PM EDT An avid comic book fan since she first read "Stan Lee's Soapbox," Allison Hambrick is your friendly neighborhood generalist writer. Journalism, editing, media production, copywriting—she does it all. From her very first blog post about Smallville as a primary schooler, Allison developed a passion for superheroes and the entertainment industry at large. Majoring in writing and film at SCAD, Allison put her skills to work writing, editing, podcasting, and more. Currently, she moonlights as an editor at the ASHRAE Journal by day and Screen Rant by night. Allison also previously worked for Warner Bros. Entertainment and for Disney. Through her writing, she hopes to inspire, to entertain, and to empower others to be the best versions of themselves, and her mission in life is to make Stan proud. In her free time, she enjoys reading, video game design, traveling, and spending time outside with her dogs, Loki and Elphaba. Allison is fluent in movie quotes, and her favorite film is Superman II. Sign in to your ScreenRant account This article contains spoilers for Clayface. Debuting at over $40 million globally, DC Studios' Clayface hit theaters this past weekend. Directed by James Watkins, the film stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface, an actor who becomes disfigured after a run-in with the mob. This leads him to seek experimental treatment from Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), which leads to him developing shapeshifting abilities. Throughout Clayface, Matt and Caitlyn share a less than platonic relationship, culminating in tragedy as he goes more and more mad. Ultimately, their doomed romance ended with Matt murdering Caitlyn's fiancé, John (Max Minghella), and Caitlyn activating a "kill switch" on him. However, the ending of the movie shows that Matt did survive, playing out his fantasy of Caitlyn returning to him using his shapeshifting abilities. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Watkins unpacked the eerie ending of Clayface. When asked if Matt was indeed able to mold himself into a second person, the director confirmed as much. He explained: Yeah, there’s been some sort of growth [since we saw his remnants go down the storm drain]. If you look at the comics, Clayface gets quite big. He’s massive in some of them. So whatever happened during that kill-switch moment, there’s been this amplification of the monster. Watkins suggested that "maybe there’s just more of" Matt after Caitlyn attempts to destroy him. As a result, the director said that "he’s able to use a bit of him to create somebody else." How Do Matt Hagen's Powers Work in Clayface? Image via MovieStillsDB In the same interview, Watkins addressed how Matt is able to properly emulate others, not just in appearance but in voice. While being an actor gives him the edge on mimicry, his powers do the heavy lifting, especially as the film progresses. "When he first becomes Eddie Marsan’s Frank, he gets the voice wrong before he gets it right," Watkins stated. "Clayface is a character whose superpower is mutability, the ability to shapeshift, and Matt, the person behind him, is already a brilliant actor with a brilliant mimetic quality. So what I thought was most interesting was that the superpower has a superpower." The filmmaker noted that "there’s potentially a collision between" his powers and his acting ability, "which makes it interesting." As a result, the DCU movie has "quite a lot of fun with it and lean[s] into the idea of an actor playing different characters." Though his next appearance is not confirmed, these comments set up an interesting future for Matt and the development of his powers in future DC projects. Clayface is now playing in theaters. Clayface Release Date October 23, 2026 Runtime 108 Minutes Director James Watkins Writers Mike Flanagan, Hossein Amini Cast Tom Rhys Harries Matt Hagen / Clayface Naomi Ackie Dr. Caitlin Bates