[00:02] new backstory for one of Batman's oldest rogues, our very first liveaction look at Gotham City in the DCU, and this movie had one hell of an open ending. Hey, welcome back to Screen Crush. I'm Colton Ogburn, and we are going to break
[00:15] down this film's creepy conclusion, Matt Hagen's abilities, and what it means for Gotham's future. But first, we need to talk about this new take on Hagen's powers. This film takes a lot of liberties with the character. The
[00:28] biggest being that the clay he is composed of isn't actually clay at all, but nanotechnology. AI powered nanotech to be exact. Now, this is an entirely fresh take on Clayface's capabilities, especially for the Matt Hagen version.
[00:42] When he was first introduced in the comics, Hagen's powers came from magical protoplasm that he stumbled upon while scuba diving on a job. >> I thought he was an actor. >> Well, yes and no. Matt Hagen, he is the
[00:54] second take on the Clayface character. Basil Carlo was actually his predecessor. Now Carlo was an upandcoming actor who had been replaced on his most important film and he then became hellbent on revenge like Matt in
[01:07] this movie. Now that version of the character didn't actually have any mud wore a clay mask when he killed his co-stars. Now, the Matt Hagen mud monster version of the character didn't actually appear until nearly 250 issues
[01:23] later. And even then, it wasn't until Batman the Animated Series that Hagen became known as an actor. The fantastic two-parter Feed of Clay reimagined Hagen as both actor and mud monster, giving his transformation a new tragic
[01:36] backstory. Instead of Hagen willingly dipping into a mysterious pool of mud, he seeks out a treatment after a car accident disfigures his face, not unlike what Matt does after he is attacked in this film. Now, in the series, the
[01:49] treatment that he is given for his scars is a claylike cream called Renu, which we actually saw referenced here outside of Dr. Caitlyn Kor's lab. What's different about the treatment here, though, is that it's not a cream. It's
[02:02] living technology. And this adds another very poignant layer to a big part of Clayface's tragedy, his loss of identity. Every iteration of Clayface holds himself in high regard, whether it's Basel Carlo in the comics or Hagen
[02:16] matters most to him. >> Too bad I won't get to read the notices. >> And the same is true for Matt here. Early in the film, Matt makes a point of driver. He talks to his people helping him on set. He greets everyone
[02:31] personally. Part of that is because his personal identity matters so much to him. Having people know the name Matt Hagen means so much because he has no one else to know him. The film constantly references how Matt made a
[02:44] name for himself as the kid who grew up with nothing from the rough side of Gotham. And a core part of that identity, of course, is his appearance. And that's not meant in a vain way or just because he's an actor. In fact, the
[02:56] driven by vanity. >> I wanted to make it clear that Matt this was not a story about vanity. >> His appearance is so important to him because it is all he has. He has no one to remember him as a person. The only
[03:11] outward appearance. >> I know you. You're famous. >> So, after he has left scarred beyond recognition, he loses not only his job, but a core part of his identity. And that is ultimately what drives him to
[03:26] >> I want my life back. >> And when it fails, that is what lets him give into the monster inside. And you know what, Doug? Like the Batman, Clayface does a great job of bringing out a grounded version of a more
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[04:59] nanotech is powered by AI, which makes sense for a modern version of Clayface. rogue has never been linked to nanociences in the comics, his major motif identity has become increasingly linked to AI. In the last couple of
[05:14] years, AI has been on a frightening rise in every aspect of life. One major area is in people's personal lives. People use chat bots to supplement friendships, upload their personal pictures to AI, or follow whatever AI prompt is trendy that
[05:28] week. AI is no longer being used for technologies sake, but rather as a replica of something inherently human, like conversation or creation. And this is especially true for the arts. AI art appears everywhere. And the more it's
[05:42] produced, the more it starts to look the same, becoming a blob of everything it has ever consumed. Every time AI imports and exports something, it reduces the value of the original artist's work. It's just an emotionless imitation of
[05:57] what actually was, which is exactly what Matt Hagen becomes. >> I have no idea who you are. >> Though he's a good actor, we see Matt can't replicate the humanity of each victim, just like AI art can't convey
[06:10] soul-like real art. And that's what ultimately gets him caught. In the final scene, you can feel something is off about Caitlyn's fiance. Matt can't connect with his humanity well enough to replicate him. And it's during this
[06:22] final confrontation that Caitlyn asks whether the tech has taken over Matt, similar to how those AI tentacle arms took over Doc O all the way back in >> It means I maintain control of these arms instead of them controlling me. By
[06:37] the end of the film, Matt has completely lost his identity to the nanobots, becoming just one of the many faces that he can wear. Matt's obsessive connection with Caitlyn toward the end of the film mirrors the real life AI dependency that
[06:49] plagues so many people today. And we see several examples of this in their starts out as an all too eager participant for Caitlyn when she has no one else to turn to. The same enthusiastic attitude that chat GPT
[07:04] offers lonely conversationalists. Matt quickly becomes obsessed with her and vice versa. It's a modern-day Frankenstein. Caitlyn isn't invested in her creature, but in her science. She loves him because he is proof that all
[07:17] of her hard work and her technology works. And Matt loves Caitlyn because that's now become his identity, replacing the one he lost in the procedure. Matt literally says to her, "I'll be anyone you want me to be." Just
[07:29] as AI will take on whatever role it needs to stay useful. And this all of course perfectly mirrors Matt being an actor. In fact a method actor. Now only after Matt extracts everything from her, her fianceé, her address, her identity.
[07:43] Only at that moment does Caitlyn realize that it is too late to hit the kill switch. And this reflects some people in real life. Many who rely on AI only realize the problem with that reliance far too late. By then any ideas, images,
[07:57] or videos shared with the AI remain with it forever. They become part of the ever growing hive. The same happens to anyone that Clayface comes in contact with. They become part of his skin clay amalgamation. Matt's road to villain in
[08:11] this movie happens in part because he lost himself to the hive mind. When Matt villain. He's honestly just trying to murders were obviously wrong, he was doing them for a personal reason. He
[08:26] violence for the hell of it up until, you know, he killed John Blli. Matt's murder of Jon is purely out of his obsession to retain his identity, which has now shifted to loving Caitlyn. So, he'll say, do or become whoever he needs
[08:41] to be in order to keep her in his life, whether she wants that or not. This one-sided codependency is exemplified at the film's end. After Clayface slinks into the sewers, his classic hiding spot in both the comics and the animated
[08:54] series, the public presumes that Matt Hagen is dead. That said, we see Caitlyn visibly paranoid that anyone around her could be Matt, and for good reason. He was indeed stalking her. When he approaches her, disguised as a homeless
[09:07] man, he bows the same goodbye that he gave her when they first met. And just a few moments later, in the privacy of his sewer hideout, he creates a copy of her from his body and tells her, "I only exist for you." Even though he and
[09:19] Caitlyn no longer interact in person every day, Clayface has gathered enough data and surveillance on her to replicate her. Exactly. It's voyeristic in a way, and the film hints at this non-consensual nature earlier during the
[09:32] sleep study. When Matt turns into Caitlyn during the study, he begins holding himself and touching himself in a very suggestive manner. Definitely not doctor. Unbeknownst to Caitlyn, Matt's already intimately familiar with every
[09:45] aspect of her, including her body, which is why he is so quickly drawn to her. Matt feels that because he knows her physically inside and out, he is entitled to her emotionally. But in the end, he only gets her likeness, a cheap
[09:58] copy of real love. The film even foreshadows this imitation of love from the start. It opens with Matt struggling with a love confession scene, the same dialogue that he later tries to reuse with Caitlyn. Whatever love he professed
[10:11] to her was never real. He was just regurgitating somebody else's words to fit the scene. Again, it's like AI constantly appealing to its user to keep them attached and saying whatever it needs to say to do so. And this isn't
[10:25] the first time we have seen Clayface reuse lines from his acting days for insidious means. In Batman the Animated Series, that version of Clayface had befriended another doctor, Stella Bates. She fell in love with him while he was
[10:37] working as an actor and then devoted her life to finding a cure for him after the transformation. Clayface, however, grew impatient with her work and lashed out at her. Afterward, to keep her from leaving him, he reused the same words
[10:50] ago. >> You cured more than my body. You cured my heart. So, as Matt simulates a hug between him and Caitlyn, the camera zooms out to reveal the tendrils connecting them to the ground and to
[11:04] each other and revealing that Caitlyn, of course, is not really there. It's all in Matt's mind. And this visual comes from the brilliant comic, which will definitely sound familiar after watching this film, one bad day. Though the
[11:17] Joker, >> all it takes is one bad day. DC released a limited series under that same title that focused on Batman's greatest foes. >> Not yet, buddy, but we're getting there. So, the Clayface edition told a story
[11:33] similar to the Hollywood arc hinted at here, but it focused much more on Clayface's social climb. That said, the comic did end with Clayface trapped in a cell within Arkham Asylum, surrounded by clay replicas of all his victims. Now,
[11:46] this film's ending not only visually references the scene, but it also suggests that these versions of Clayface share the same ability. He can present as more than one person at a time. Now, we have seen this ability in the
[11:59] animated series as well, which I will note initially inspired this film. Writer Mike Flanigan originally approached DC about doing a Clayface film because of the feed of Clay episode in Batman the animated series. In the
[12:11] episode Growing Pains, after one of Clayface's deaths, he broke off a piece of himself and formed a little girl, Annie, and she ends up becoming sentient, separate from Clayface, and becomes friends with Robin. And it's
[12:23] actually a really heartbreaking episode, but it raises an interesting possibility for Clayface's future in the DCU with the new AI upgrade. Clayface now has full control of the nanites within his bloodstream. After Caitlyn hit the kill
[12:38] switch and turned him into Slush, he recovered pretty quickly. And not long after, he reformed into an entirely new person and then later two people at once. So, he figured out how to regain his form, at least for now. While he can
[12:53] still make himself look like his old self or anyone else, I got the impression that he can't hold it for long without turning back into his new natural state, which is the clay monster. When Matt first gets back to
[13:05] his new underground home, he looks in the mirror and closes his eyes, trying to focus and morph back into Matt Hagen. But he struggles to do so until he manifests a copy of Caitlyn to help bring himself back. Throughout the film,
[13:18] Matt seeks out Caitlyn after every heinous act, unable to snap back to his human form without her comfort. Eventually, without Caitlyn to help him control his abilities, Matt will forget himself even more to the nanotech. And
[13:30] something similar happens in the comics as well. In a newer run leading up to this film, Clayface Celebrity Dirt, it is proposed that Basil Carlo was never actually the Mud Monster. Rather, that was the last identity that Matt Hagen
[13:44] remembered after his tenure as Clayface. So, that could eventually be the case here. Matt Hagen could truly lose himself to the AI over time. After all, this film is a prequel in a sense. It's chronologically the first film of the
[13:58] DCU by the time we saw him in Creature Commandos. And yes, they are the same Clayface. There was little to no Matt Hagen left in that monster. Which brings me back to Annie. When Matt first learned about the technology, Caitlyn
[14:10] said the nano cells control themselves through the AI. So something like a sentient offspring of Clayface is highly plausible. So while I'm not saying that they have to adapt that directly, I think it does open a lot of doors for
[14:23] the DCU and its connectivity. Now, the next project announced for the DCU is James Gunn's Man of Tomorrow, and the main villain will be the AI alien Brainiac. So, thematically, there's already a pretty solid through line. But
[14:38] beyond similar themes, consider the possibility of this Nanite technology in Man of Tomorrow. Clayface, while a standalone film, has a ton of DCU connections, and it was evidently placed further back in the timeline for a
[14:51] enjoyed Clayface, be sure to check out some of our Clayface inspired merch at our merch store. We have the GCPD t-shirt, the Renu Cream Ado, and our Keep Gotham Criminally Insane shirt. We also have a bunch of other classic
[15:06] DCinspired pieces on the store, so head over to screencrushmerch.com to check them out. As I said earlier, we first met Clayface in Creature Commandos, and established that Hagen was at least known to Argus.
[15:19] >> That's a shape shifter. In that show, he had a very minor role, briefly posing as a professor of the Mascira history to help a princess in her plot to take over the world. During his charade, Rick Flag Senior found him and confronted him,
[15:32] leading to Clayface being electrocuted like he was in the movie. Now, back then, Clayface had been presumed dead, but we now know that electrocution doesn't actually kill him. After Caitlyn tasered Matt, he struggled to keep his
[15:44] form as he did in Creature Commandos, but he didn't die. That being said, what if Amanda Waller scooped up a little clay residue upon finding him in the professor's house? I mean, Batman has done the exact same thing several times
[15:56] in both the comics and the animated series. And that is exactly what Caitlyn warned Matt about in the film. If anyone found out about his side effects, they would bottle him for research. So, what if in Man of Tomorrow, when the AI alien
[16:10] threat hits Argus, they turn to their own AI technology, the remains of Clayface? In the small time frame of the film, we saw Matt's power grow doesn't state the time that elapses
[16:24] between it and the rest of the DCU, Matt's powers clearly grow immensely from here until we see him next in Creature Commandos. And with that in mind, imagine what Argus could do with Kor's new wave science in just a year.
[16:37] Peacemaker revealed that Argus and Lex Luthther have made a deal with one Luthther. >> And while they were working on Salvation, then it's possibly that they'd consult him again about Brainiac.
[16:49] After all, we know that Superman and Lex Luthther will fight on the same side for part of that film. So Lex could use that same technology powering Clayface to make their own army of superpowered soldiers, an upgraded version of the
[17:03] raptors from Superman. Altogether, they're an unstoppable force we call Planet Watch, more than capable of containing any other worldly threat. As for the Batman of it all, let's discuss a couple of possibilities. Though we
[17:17] don't see the caped crusader in the film, DC's co-CEO Peter Saffron confirmed that Batman is active during this movie's events. And that makes sense as Batman seems pretty well established by the year 2026. Ripped off
[17:30] beacon right in the middle of the >> We've already seen him in Gotham during a flashback in Creature Commandos, though the year of that flashback remains unknown. That said, his presence
[17:42] is noticeably absent from this film, but not in the something to do with Spider-Man, I think, way. Batman's absence in this film makes it feel more like a prequel, not just for Clayface, but for Gotham as a whole. Now, Batman's
[17:54] absence isn't new to a rogue central story either. In the Celebrity Dirt Clayface says, "I still don't see why realizes that no one has stopped his
[18:06] crime spree." In universe though, Batman's lack of constant vigilance. I mean, he is only one guy, it lets Gotham get much looser. It's corrupt through and through. And while Gotham isn't much better when Bruce patrols endlessly,
[18:18] was in the film. But again, that's for a reason here. This isn't a Gotham that is used to Batman yet. Hell, Gordon doesn't even seem like a big shot in the GCPD yet, but his former partner is. In the
[18:31] film, Detective Belli reports to Detective Laney, who could be Francis Laney from the comics. In the New 52 reboot of Batman, Detective Laney was paired with Gordon to investigate the Black Mask gang, which we also saw
[18:44] referenced in Lanterns. During their investigation, Gordon quickly realizes that Laney is corrupt and accepts bribes from the Black Mask, much like the lead detective in this film. Now, this happens before Gordon becomes
[18:56] commissioner and before he and Batman really build their working relationship. So, it would match up timelinewise for both Gordon and Batman to be missing from this film. And also, it's way too early in Clayface's journey to even
[19:08] have been awesome to see the >> freaking bad, >> it's clear that the only rogues in Gotham right now are mobsters. Sure, we had Dr. Phosphorus and Creature Commandos, but again, that was during an
[19:20] unspecified flashback. As for the known timeline right now, it's just gangsters like Rupert Thorne and Marco Sabo. So, to be quite honest, I don't think we're in Batman territory yet. at least not during this time period. Batman, he
[19:32] first arrives on the scene in response to Gotham's rampid crime. And while crime was definitely apparent in this film, it's at the level that year 1 Batman bounce into. So, this is for sure a step on the road towards Batman, but
[19:45] just a step. The Clayface version that Matt morphs into at the very end also looks like the design that we see the bat fight most often in the comics. So, a battle is definitely going to come because this movie, it is so inspired by
[19:57] the animated series. And I'm inclined to think that they will take the same monster of the week attitude with the rest of Gotham's rogues, meaning that the future and we will see him go toe-to-toe with Batman. Now, the
[20:10] official next time we're slated to see the DCU's Batman is in The Brave and the ends up being called, but that's recently been said to have been going through some major creative changes. And with that in mind, we might end up
[20:23] seeing Clayface in a second season of Creature Commandos or maybe in a Suicide Gotham. Now, I have one more theory that I would like to put out there that might get a little mergy. Oh boy. So, look, I I don't want to be a Battenson
[20:36] conspiracy theorist, but I I have to here. When this film was first announced, when it was pitched, it was said to be part of Reeves crime saga, which includes the Penguin, the Batman. And this is also why Matt Reeves is
[20:49] listed as an executive producer on the film. He was integral to creating the cinematic Batman image. Then through all the production changes, they eventually decided to set Clayface in the DCU instead. However, throughout production,
[21:02] a ton of Batman Easter eggs, specifically the Batman Easter eggs, were spotted on set. So, could this have been leftover set dressing from the film's original premise? It's possible. and it was never confirmed exactly when
[21:15] they decided to make it a DCU movie. So, it's possible that they were already deep into production before that call was made. Or it was just a coincidence that's bound to happen when you're creating stories in the same fictional
[21:27] that they made one of the Batman's most fantastical villains grounded. When discussing his Batman universe, Reeves has always said that he never intended it to delve into Batman's fantastical elements, opting to make the animal
[21:40] hybrid gangster just a gangster. and the riddleobs obsessed criminal into a characters like the gentleman ghost, Manbad, or Mr. Freeze, Reeves has always turned those rogues down because they rely heavily on science fiction and more
[21:55] fantastical elements. But here, Clayface no longer operates on the mystical cream or protoplasm that he did in the comics. Here, he is straight comic science. And either. The film treats none of the fantasy aspects lightly as an everyday
[22:11] occurrence in Gotham City. Caitlyn is horrified when Matt shows her his new powers as a threat to the very balance of science the same way that it would be treated in real life or when set in a more grounded universe like the Batman
[22:25] as opposed to the DCU where we know that superpowered individuals have been in operation for decades. So, this is all just to say maybe a merger is still possible between the Batman and the DCU. I mean, hell, even Clayface is asking
[22:38] >> I get into a bit of like m merge baiting, >> but hey, who knows? Those are just our thoughts. Let me know yours down in the huge shout out to the writer of this
[22:50] out down in the comments below. If you're new here, be sure to subscribe, time we upload a new video. And I should have a review for the film up on my check that out. For Screen Crush, I'm Colton Ogburn.