Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie were big fans of Batman: The Animated Series growing up in the UK, recalling how they would rush home to watch it after school.
“It was a ritual for a long time,” Ackie told IGN. “You finish school at 3:30, you get home, you watch Batman.”
Horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan’s original screenplay for Clayface drew its inspiration directly from the Batman: The Animated Series episode “Feat of Clay” that reimagined how actor Matt Hagen became Clayface.
“It was really interesting being involved with this where I got to revisit that ‘Feat of Clay’ episodes,” Rhys Harries said, heaping praise on Clayface voice actor Ron Perlman.
“Ron Perlman does such an amazing job with the voice on that and the sequences in that are so sick. When he's shape-shifting and he's having this [exchange] with Batman where he's like, ‘I don't know who I am.’"
Ackie, who was paired with Rhys Harries for our interview, added, “But you feel so sorry for him. I think what is amazing is that we hold onto the idea of the tragedy of this character in this iteration of Clayface. And it feels, like you said, quite heartfelt at the same time as being absolutely horrific.”
For more on Clayface and the future of the DCU, be sure to read my interview with DC Studios co-chairman and co-CEO Peter Safran.
And also be sure to check out IGN’s picks for the Top 10 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series.