James Gunn has fired back at a fan questioning why DC Studios is making a Clayface movie, arguing that Hollywood does not work by letting audiences vote on which characters deserve their own films. The response is classic Gunn, but it also captures the larger gamble behind his new DC Universe. Since taking creative control alongside Peter Safran, Gunn has repeatedly pushed the franchise toward less obvious corners of the comic-book sandbox. Clayface may be his strangest swing yet.

And that is precisely why the reaction to it matters. The question is not simply whether audiences know Clayface. It is whether Gunn can make viewers care about a character who was never supposed to be the obvious headline act.

The exchange between James Gunn and a fan happened on Threads, one of Gunn’s usual online hangouts, after the fan bluntly asked, “Who asked for a Clayface movie?” Gunn responded by pointing to films including Back to the Future, Casablanca, There’s Something About Mary, Pan’s Labyrinth, Fury Road, Weapons and The Matrix. 

 “Who asked for Back to the Future? Casablanca? There’s Something About Mary? Pan’s Labyrinth? Fury Road? Weapons? The Matrix? Although it may seem like it, Hollywood isn’t a place where the only way to make a movie is the public voting on what IP they want to see that they’ve seen countless times before,” he wrote.

Gunn then went deeper into the creative logic behind Clayface, explaining that Mike Flanagan initially developed the idea before James Watkins and Hossein Amini shaped it further. He said he would rather back filmmakers who are genuinely inspired by a relatively obscure character than commission a passionless screenplay around a famous one simply because the IP is commercially recognizable. That philosophy tracks with Gunn’s own superhero history, from turning the obscure Guardians of the Galaxy into a Marvel phenomenon to now giving a Batman-adjacent horror character a feature of his own.

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There is also a particularly Gunn-shaped irony here. He is simultaneously overseeing major DC projects involving recognizable properties, including Superman and The Batman: Part II, while defending a movie that deliberately steps away from the safest part of the superhero playbook.

The film is directed by James Watkins and stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, with Naomi Ackie, Eddie Marsan and Max Minghella among the supporting cast. Flanagan and Amini are credited as screenwriters, giving the project an unusual creative lineage for a DC title. The story also takes the character into body horror territory, turning a traditionally Batman-associated villain into the center of a darker transformation story.

The film is scheduled for October 23, 2026. In other words, much of the conversation remains centered on the premise itself rather than the finished movie. That makes Gunn's argument especially relevant: he is defending the decision to make the film before audiences have had the opportunity to decide whether the gamble worked.

For the DCU, that uncertainty may be the point. If Gunn's gamble works, Clayface could become another example of an apparently oddball DC choice finding its audience after the fact.

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What do you think of James Gunn's defense of Clayface? Share your thoughts in the comments.