The Batman 2’ Will Reportedly Bring In Batman’s Most Disturbing Villain - Inside the Magic
Бэтмен: Продолжение
Credit: DC Studios
Matt Reeves delivered The Batman in 2022, and fans have patiently awaited news on the anticipated sequel. A new report has indicated that The Batman 2 will start filming in March 2024. Also, the sequel will be bringing in the Dark Knight’s most disturbing villain.
Batman is only as important as his Rogues Gallery, which comprises central villains like The Penguin, The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, and many more. While most of these villains have appeared in one way or another in the many films in the franchise, plenty more have yet to make their live-action debut.
Plenty of Batman villains have been underutilized in terms of live-action films, but mainly because they exist in a more fantastical sense. They might be too otherworldly to live in a more grounded world. Reeves is following the same format that Christopher Nolan did, in the sense that both trilogies are meant to showcase more realism.
So far, Matt Reeves has introduced a more believable version of The Penguin and The Riddler, especially with Paul Dano’s performance turned the known trickster into a full-blown serial killer. Because of the nature of how Batman is meant to appear as real as possible, it would be hard to include villains like Man-Bat, Dr. Phosphorus, and Poison Ivy. That is not to say Reeves cannot accomplish bringing them into his world, but we would argue it would throw off the grounded nature he is aiming for.
One of the most-asked-about villains that has yet to make his live-action debut is Clayface. Fans have been begging for his inclusion into the live-action world, which hasn’t happened yet. It might be because it’s hard to capture a man who can morph his body into any shape, assuming that is the preferred version of Clayface that the director would be going for. Still, a new report has indicated that The Batman 2 will bring in the disturbing villain.
Clayface Will Reportedly Be In ‘The Batman 2’
The Batman Part 2 to film in March 2024. Clayface to be involved.
Per industry insider My Time To Shine Hello, it has been revealed that The Batman 2 will begin filming in March 2024. The industry strikes are still ongoing, though there are reports that talks are also starting to happen. We imagine that the writers and actors could conclude their strikes by the end of the year, assuming they are given a new fair deal.
The Batman 2 also has a current release date of October 2025, so the filming date of March 2024 would align with the film still being able to meet its current release plans.
Even bigger than the production start window is that the industry insider account has reportedly confirmed that Clayface would be joining Matt Reeves’s Batman universe, which would be huge.
We reported many times on the rumors that Clayface would be involved, though nothing has yet been substantiated. This is the newest report that the villain will finally make his live-action debut. The question is now, which version of Clayface will fans be getting?
The Many Faces of Clayface
There have been multiple versions of the character in comics, much like many characters. Initially, Clayface’s origin in the comics is that he’s an actor named Basil Karlo. Karlo finds out that he is being replaced in a remake of his most classic film, so he goes on a killing spree, taking out everyone involved in the remake of his classic film.
He takes on the moniker of Clayface via a costume he used in a former film he was in, in which he does the killings. This would be the most logical version of Clayface that Matt Reeves could bring in. We already saw the darker nature of The Riddler as a serial killer, and Basil Karlo could accompany that by being a new killer that Batman might not be able to catch at first.
The second and bigger fan-favorite version is Matt Hagen, who began as a treasure diver who finds a pool of protoplasm that transforms him into Clayface. However, he must return to the pool to regenerate his powers. The other version that began a hit with fans was shown in Batman: The Animated Series, which returns Hagen to his actor origins.
In the animated series, Matt Hagen is an actor who begins to use a cream called Renuyu—developed by fellow Batman baddie Roland Daggett. The cream can transform Hagen’s face into anyone, and he uses it to set up Bruce Wayne. However, the cream becomes addicting to Hagen, who can’t shake using it. Daggett attempts to kill Hagen after their business dealings sour by feeding him a huge amount of Renuyu.
The result of the cream being fed into his system combines with his DNA, turning him into a vile creature who can morph his body into anything he imagines.
The additional versions of Clayface in the comics are comprised of both Hagen and Karlos’s versions, often taking on skin degenerative diseases that are hidden by armor like Preston Payne, or they are versions like Clay-Thing, which can also morph its body.
We would assume that Matt Reeves would bring in Basil Karlo, allowing the murders to occur as they did in the comics, making him a perfect target for Robert Pattinson’s Batman.
We could see the Matt Hagen version being able to transform, but that might be a bit too unbelievable. Either way, we hope this report is accurate and we finally see Clayface on screen.
What do you think of The Batman 2 bringing in Clayface? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
James Brizuela
James Brizuela has been a professional entertainment writer since 2019, having started his career at Comic Book Resources as a listicle writer. After focusing on his expertise in the gaming, movies, and TV at CBR, he moved into an Editor position at Giant Freakin Robot, where he ran the gaming section of the website. He would use this opportunity to catapult his way to become the Entertaintment Editor here at Inside the Magic. When James is not writing Entertainment news for ITM, he attends concerts and works on his personal film scripts.
"
