James Gunn hits back at complaints that Clayface doesn’t set up the wider DCU
Facing grumbles over its lack of DCU setup, James Gunn has waded in on Threads to champion Clayface as a standalone horror first, shared-universe fodder second.
If you know James Gunn, you know he loves a bit of fan debate, and his latest comments about Clayface make it clear he's not having the usual shared universe arguments. Pull up a chair – Gunn's pushing back on the idea that every DCU film has to be some elaborate setup for the next big crossover. Instead, he wants you to think of Clayface as a proper horror film first, and only tangentially as a DC property. A bold move, especially with superhero fatigue never far away these days.
Clayface pulled in $24 million from 3,458 North American cinemas on its opening weekend.
Horror First, DC Later
Over on Threads (of all places), Gunn had a few things to say about people complaining that Clayface wasn't laying breadcrumbs for some future event. He's not here to make glorified teasers; he wants each story to stand up for itself. His words:
“I dislike the idea that individual stories aren’t meaningful unless they lead to something else.”
He didn't stop there. Gunn pointed out that the DCU should function more like an alternate universe playground, where you can drop in whenever and wherever makes sense for the story you're trying to tell. Reference to Star Wars crept in too – you know, films, telly, games, books, it's all a jumble of stories in that galaxy and no one seems to mind.
No Glorified Trailer
Gunn wanted to be blunt about continuity – it's not gone, he's just not letting it run the show. Superman will carry on with Man of Tomorrow, and yes, characters might wander between projects, but the point isn't to make every film a checklist of teasers and cameos. As he put it, these other stories shouldn't exist solely to set up the big ones. He's hoping you actually turn up for Clayface because it works as a self-contained horror flick, not just to nitpick whenever the DC timeline wobbles.
James Watkins is directing this one, bringing proper body-horror to the screen. Tom Rhys Harries stars as Matt Hagen, an actor chasing fame who ends up properly mangled, then gets himself involved with an experimental treatment – I'm sure you can guess how that goes. Rounding out the cast you've got Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan.
Despite all the moaning about what it means for the DCU's grand timeline, Clayface is doing nicely, pulling in $24 million on its opening weekend across the States.