One of the first installments in James Gunn’s DCU — and the first official appearance of Batman in the franchise — is now in jeopardy thanks to an upcoming film. Though Batman has very notably appeared in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the character has only been in one scene of the DCU so far. The Batman technically isn’t part of the main franchise, and as such, Bruce Wayne still has yet to be seen in the DCU in live-action.
Batman has, however, briefly appeared in the DCU thanks to the animated series Creature Commandos. Near the end of Creature Commandos season 1, Batman briefly appears as a silhouette during Dr. Phosphorus’ backstory. That cameo, coupled with the fact that Creature Commandos was one of the first projects in the DCU and has already had an effect on the franchise’s movie installments, made it seem like the animated series was quite important.
After all, Creature Commandos also had the first appearance of Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo), who would go on to have an important role to play in Superman 2025. The show also definitively tied into the events of The Suicide Squad, which has been retroactively rolled into the DCU’s continuity. All this is to say that Creature Commandos seemed, for a long time, like one of the foundational building blocks of James Gunn’s DCU.
That may no longer be the case, though. The first trailer for Clayface, the next movie in the DCU, throws the importance of Creature Commandos into question. Clayface is set to be an R-rated horror movie about the titular Batman villain, an actor turned supervillain who can change his appearance like clay. While the trailer for Clayface promises a worthwhile film, it doesn’t mesh well with Creature Commandos at all.
The Clayface Movie Contradicts Creature Commandos’ Story
Matt Hagen’s (Tom Rhys Harries) face drooping in Clayface
The R-rating for Clayface and it being branded as a horror film already set a very mature tone for the movie, but the trailer confirmed that it’s going to be deadly serious. In the trailer, Clayface is presented as a truly tragic figure who suffers a disfiguring injury and struggles with the terrifying condition of his face literally melting at times. Clayface seems to be an exploration of the horror of losing one’s identity and being branded as a monster.
That darker tone for Clayface is great, but it makes no sense with Creature Commandos’ depiction of the character. In Creature Commandos, Clayface is presented as a crass, vulgar, and brutish contract killer who plays Xbox and drinks beer in his free time. While impersonating professor MacPherson, Clayface sexually harasses a college student, and his entire character has an ironically comedic air about him, in fitting with Creature Commandos’ overall tone.
The problem is that the Clayface in Clayface and the Clayface in Creature Commandos are basically two different characters. Clayface depicts him as a tragic and serious figure who is trapped in a horror story. Creature Commandos presents him as a comedic and lecherous bad guy in an action series. The DCU is supposed to be one continuous and coherent story about the same characters who show up in multiple properties, but Clayface seems to be directly contradicting that idea.
James Gunn and the DCU have also outright confirmed that Clayface is a main installment of the DCU and takes place in the same continuity as both Superman and Creature Commandos. The disparity between Clayface and Creature Commandos can’t be hand-waved away by saying one exists in a different continuity, universe, or as a “what if” story. Clayface is part of the DCU’s main timeline, which makes the fate of Creature Commandos much more confusing.
Clayface Raises So Many Unanswered Questions About Creature Commandos
The Bride standing with her arms folded next to John Economos as they talk in an elevator – Creature Commandos season 1
Image via Max
The implications of Clayface being so wildly different in Clayface and Creature Commandos raises a litany of questions that we simply don’t have answers to yet. Clayface is an origin story for the titular villain, but does that mean he’ll go from being a tragic and horrifying figure to becoming the vulgar and comedic person seen in Creature Commandos? That would be a massive change in characterization, regardless of how much time has passed, and it would undermine many of Clayface’s more serious themes.
Another possibility that’s only slightly less jarring is the idea that there may be multiple characters who use the same moniker and have the same powers in the DCU. It wouldn’t be unprecedented; DC Comics have had several different people take on Clayface’s powers, with the most notable two being Basil Karlo and Matt Hagen. Hagen is confirmed to be the main character of Clayface, but Creature Commandos never mentioned if its version of Clayface was also named Matt Hagen, so that possibility is unconfirmed. It would also be fairly confusing to have two different characters acting as the same villain in concurrent projects.
Related
10 Major Reveals From The DCU’s First Clayface Trailer
DC Studios has released the first teaser for Clayface, debuting the DCU’s first big Batman villain, along with some very exciting reveals.
Yet another possibility is that the DCU is preparing to de-canonize Creature Commandos. The show may become a simple fun side adventure for the DCU’s animated efforts rather than an important part of the franchise’s lore and overall story. If that’s the case, Batman’s first appearance in the DCU won’t be canon anymore, and neither will Rick Flagg Sr.’s backstory, the tie-ins to the Suicide Squad, or anything else Creature Commandos set up.
It’s too early to tell exactly how James Gunn and the DCU will handle these conflicting depictions of Clayface, but one thing is clear: Creature Commandos is in a very precarious place. Clayface is either going to change the identity of Creature Commandos’ Clayface or outright retcon it. At the moment, there’s no clear way for the DCU to mend the divide between Clayface and Creature Commandos.