Tom Rhys Harries will star as Clayface in DC Studios’ next major film, directed by James Watkins and produced by James Gunn and Matt Reeves.
DC Studios has found its next big-screen villain. Tom Rhys Harries, best known for his roles in Suspicion, Kandahar, and White Lines, has officially been cast as the lead in Clayface, the latest feature film in the ever-expanding DC Universe.
The Welsh actor, who trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and made his West End debut in Mojo, secured the role after a competitive search that included top British talents like Jack O’Connell (28 Years Later), Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), and George MacKay (1917).
Clayface will be directed by James Watkins, known for Speak No Evil, and is set to shoot at Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios in the UK. The film is one of the major projects lined up for DC Studios, overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran, following the release of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which hits theaters on September 11, 2026.
A classic Batman villain, Clayface first appeared in Detective Comics #40 in June 1940. The original character was a struggling actor who turned to crime and adopted the persona of a horror movie villain he once portrayed. Known for his shape-shifting abilities and clay-like form, Clayface has been featured in comics, animated series, films, and video games for decades.
Harries, repped by UTA, Curtis Brown Group, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, brings a strong resume of both screen and stage work. He starred opposite Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in The Return, and appeared in Guy Ritchie‘s The Gentlemen.
Producing Clayface are James Gunn, Peter Safran, Matt Reeves (The Batman), and Lynn Harris, with Chantal Nong serving as executive producer. The script originated with Mike Flanagan (The Life of Chuck) and later drafts were penned by Hossein Amini, the Oscar-nominated writer of The Wings of the Dove and Drive.
As anticipation builds, Clayface is expected to arrive sometime in fall 2026. The announcement comes just ahead of what promises to be a high-profile showing for DC at San Diego Comic-Con, with Gunn’s Peacemaker Season 2 and the upcoming Superman—opening July 11 and tracking for a $100M+ domestic debut—both on the radar.
