Batman has one of the most illustrious rogues’ galleries in comic books. While villains like the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman and Bane are all human, one of Batman’s more peculiar super-powered foes is Clayface, who usually possesses the ability to shapeshift from one form to another. This metamorphosis sets him apart from Batman’s typically grounded world, and perhaps because of that, he has never had a consistently defined alter ego.
Over the eight decades of Batman’s existence, eight separate villains have called themselves Clayface at one point or another. Yet, they all share remarkably similar powers. In comics about a superhero who has villainous staples like Two-Face and Riddler, Clayface has a peculiar lore that sets the character apart—all eight of them.
Updated on June 9, 2025, by Guillermo Kurten: Aside from his pulpier beginnings, Clayface generally falls under Batman’s more «monstrous» cast of villains. He’s long since been a classic rogues gallery member, even though the usual suspects take most of the spotlight. Clayface has great potential to be a compelling character in any horror-themed Batman story. DC Studios co-head James Gunn seems to think as much, as a live-action solo Clayface movie is in the works for the DCU. This article was updated to provide a breakdown of the development of the Clayface horror movie.
Basil Karlo Is the Original Clayface
As the First Clayface in Batman's Mythos, Karlo Has Bearing on the Others
The original Clayface is Basil Karlo, who first appears in Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s Detective Comics #40. A has-been actor, Karlo takes the name Clayface (after one of his villainous roles) to exact revenge when Hollywood dares to remake one of his classic films. His Golden and Silver Age appearances saw him traditionally defeated by Batman and Robin. In the Post-Crisis stories, Basil Karlo formed an alliance called the Mud Pack, comprised of him and several of his successors.
Originally just wearing a mask, he later gains the shapeshifting powers of the other Clayfaces after being exposed to the DNA of his peers, and he continues to serve as DC’s most prominent bearer of the mantle. At the start of the DC Rebirth era, this Clayface also begins working alongside Batman and his team in Detective Comics.
Matt Hagen Is the First Clayface With Shapeshifting Abilities
A Radioactive Pool Kept Hagen's Powers Alive
Matt Hagen is the second Clayface, and he is the first to demonstrate shapeshifting powers. Introduced in Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff’s Detective Comics #298, Hagen is an adventurer who mutates after encountering a radioactive pool of protoplasm. His new, clay-like form can transform into literally anything or anyone, but he has to dip himself into the pool to maintain his powers.
Batman takes advantage of this weakness to defeat the villain. Hagen appears frequently in the Silver Age, where Batman/Superman team-ups see Clayface attacking Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane and working alongside Brainiac. Hagen meets his end during Crisis on Infinite Earths, where he is killed by Shadow Demons. He exists at some point in Post-Crisis history, but his membership in the Mud Pack is posthumous, as Karlo could only retrieve a small fraction of his remains.
Hagen Appeared In Batman: The Animated Series
The Animated Version Has a Mixed Origin in the Wider DC Canon
As a side note, Hagen also appears in a few episodes of the landmark Batman: The Animated Series, marking one of the character’s significant appearances in animation. With shapeshifting powers, Clayface makes a compelling villain for The Dark Knight, who resorts to science and trickery to defeat powers that otherwise seem magical. What is interesting about this Clayface is that Hagen is not quite the Matt Hagen developed in the comics.
Hagen is not an adventurer who stumbles upon a radioactive pool but rather an actor, making Hagen’s backstory here very similar to Karlo’s. Except in The Animated Series, Hagen is an aging actor who uses an anti-aging cream to conceal his lines. When he gets on the wrong side of the cream’s manufacturer, Roland Daggett, Daggett’s henchmen pour a vat over him, giving him shapeshifting abilities. While this version of Hagen is quite different enough to be the third Clayface, his divergence is worth mentioning since it’s one of the best-written versions.
Preston Payne Is the Bronze Age Clayface
His Acidic Skin Must Be Held Together With An Exoskeleton
Preston Payne is the first Bronze Age Clayface (and the third Clayface overall), first appearing in Len Wein and Marshall Rogers’ Detective Comics #477. As a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist attempting to cure his hyperpituitarism, his exposure to Hagen’s metamorphic DNA grants him similar powers. The notable exception is that Preston is fundamentally acidic, constantly melting his skin.
Unfortunately, Preston’s dissolving clay form has to be upheld with an exoskeleton. He has the added complication of surviving by transmitting his essence to others, disintegrating them. He is eventually caught and put in Arkham Asylum, but later escapes Arkham with his successor, Sondra. After a time, the two have a son together.
Sondra Fuller Is the Fourth Clay Face
AKA Lady Clay, This Take on Clayface Formed the Mud Pack
The next Clayface, or Lady Clay, is Sondra Fuller. Created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo in Outsiders #21, Fuller is an agent of Kobra who undergoes experimental surgery that grants her powers just like Hagen, but without the need of a radioactive pool to sustain her. Along with basic shapeshifting, she can also copy the powers and abilities of those she imitates.
Lady Clay forms the Mud Pack with the other Clayfaces and eventually falls in love with her predecessor, Preston Payne. In DC Rebirth continuity, her revised origin has her gaining her powers as part of an experiment by rogue government agents to create their own metahumans. Although it is unknown if this new backstory remains canon, Lady Clay is now part of the titular group in Gotham City Monsters.
Cassius Payne Is the Child of Two Previous Clayfaces
Sondra Fuller and Preston Payne Gave Gotham City Cassius
Cassius «Clay» Payne is the son of Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller. His debut in Doug Moench and Kelley Jones’ Batman #550 shows that he is the inheritor of an enhanced form of his parents’ powers. If a small piece of him stays apart from his body for too long, it can become an independent being. It can also bond with others, making them into Claythings with similar powers.
However, a Claything is limited in terms of what it can do. It can think independently, but not very well, and usually in corrupted or unstable forms of what Clayface wants. Also, unfortunately for Cassius, using his powers causes him immense pain. Still, Cassius Payne is the only «pure» Clayface, as he is the only one born with his metahuman abilities.
Peter Malley Is the Clayface Gorgon
The Sixth Clayface Doesn't Last Long
The most well-known of Cassius Payne’s Claythings eventually combines with Doctor Peter Malley in Batman #550. His powers are shown to be very similar to Preston Payne’s abilities. Like some twisted gorgon, he can melt objects just by looking at them.
Despite the ability to absorb bullets by being soft and malleable, this Clayface doesn’t stick around nearly as long as the others. D.E.O. agent Cameron Chase turns his powers against him, and what little remains of the mutated scientist is put into cold storage.
Todd Russell Is the Darkest Version of Clayface
The Seventh Version of Clayface Is Part of Catwoman Lore
First appearing in Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke’s Catwoman #1, Todd Russell is perhaps the darkest take on Clayface. Although little is known about his background, he was in the military before his injuries led him to be experimented on by the government, possibly at the hands of the D.E.O. With his memory gone, Todd was experimented on for as long as two years.
After escaping the lab where he was given his powers, Russell goes on a killing spree throughout Gotham City’s East End. He uses his shapeshifting abilities to lure his victims (usually prostitutes) to their fate. For a time, Clayface worked with Catwoman to help her defeat Hugo Strange’s gang. After defeating him, Catwoman kept his head in the freezer.
Johnny Williams is DC's Most Tragic Clayface
Originally a Pawn of Hush, He Eventually Helps Batman
In 2005’s Batman: Gotham Knights #60 (by A.J. Lieberman and Javier Pina), Johnny Williams is introduced as a firefighter who unwittingly becomes a new Clayface when caught in a chemical explosion. Distraught over his predicament, Williams is manipulated by the vindictive Hush in the iconic ’00s Batman arc. The latter has him imitate both his own alter ego and Jason Todd in an attempt to unnerve Batman.
Along with his standard shapeshifting abilities, Williams is also able to infect Alfred with a mind-controlling virus that leads the butler to commit murder. Eventually, the former firefighter changes his heart upon realizing that Hush will never help him restore his humanity. He cures Alfred and clears his name for the murder before finally dying while helping Batman take down Hush.
Clayface Is Primed for a DCU Horror Movie
Acclaimed Horror Filmmaker Mike Flanagan Is Tied to the Batman Spin-off
While fans are still eagerly awaiting the iteration of Batman for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe, the eerie Clayface already has a planned live-action movie within DC’s new shared universe. Titled Clayface, the live-action DCU movie is currently slated for a 2026 release date. DC Studios formally greenlit the film in December 2024, but the roots of this project suggest that the concept has been in development for a long time. Talented horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, Midnight Mass) expressed interest in creating a somber horror movie based on the character as far back as 2021.
It didn’t move forward for some time until DC Studios picked up the project late last year based on his initial script for the movie. However, Flanagan is only attached to write the first script at this time, as obligations with his upcoming Exorcist reboot and Carrie TV series for Amazon Prime Video are keeping him busy. DC Studios hired Speak No Evil filmmaker James Watkins to direct Clayface. Most recently, Drive writer Hossein Amini has come on board in May to handle script rewrites for future drafts. It’s unclear how much of Flanagan’s original script will make it into Amini’s future drafts and Watkins’ directorial vision.
But Flanagan recently expressed how the aforementioned Batman: The Animated Series episodes influenced his writing. In an interview with , the filmmaker cited the «Feat of Clay» double-feature episodes as the inspiration for his script, which chronicled the DCAU’s origins for Matt Hagen. The two-part story is among the series’ best storylines, underscoring the elements of body horror, tragedy, and corporate villainy that spawned Hagen’s iteration of Clayface. This version of the Batman villain incorporates aspects of Basil Karlo’s background as a former actor but with a more tragic twist.
He struggles for work after an accident disfigured his face, leading him to eventually become addicted to a dangerous chemical that lets him reform his facial features. Businessman and white-collar Batman villain Roland Daggett feeds his addiction to use him in his scheme to take over Wayne Enterprises. These episodes would be excellent reference material for the DCU’s solo Clayface movie. They lay a foundation equally fit for an antihero or villainous take on the character in live-action. Casting for Clayface looks to be underway as well, and however the final product materializes, the movie has the potential to flesh out a diverse DCU that explores unique corners of the comic book world using different film genres.
Batman
Batman is one of the oldest comic superheroes, with nearly a century of comics, TV-shows, films, and video games. The mild-mannered Bruce Wayne becomes Gotham City's caped crusader, protecting it from villains like The Joker, Killer Croc, The Penguin, and more. Batman is also one of DC comics' "Big Three" alongside Superman and Wonder Woman, and together the three help keep the earth safe as founding members of the Justice League.
Expand Collapse
DC Comics
DC Comics follow the adventures of iconic superheroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and more.
Expand Collapse
