Clayface opens in theaters today, and the question hanging over it is whether Batman shows up. A leak from an early screening says he does not.
ComicBookMovie reported on October 18 that an anonymous poster on r/DC_Cinematic, running an AMA after seeing the film, said they “got no sense of Batman or even Bruce Wayne’s presence.” The same leak reportedly says there are no wider DCU references, no other Batman villains and no tie-in to Creature Commandos.
Director James Watkins left the door slightly open in July. Asked about a Batman cameo, he told ComicBookMovie, “The story is Clayface’s story, it’s Matt Hagen’s story,” and added, “You don’t necessarily bump into any of these people… It’s just one big city.”
Rotten Tomatoes' first-reviews roundup shows the film at 75% and Certified Fresh. It quotes Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter calling Clayface “one of the year’s big surprises,” and Josh Wilding of ComicBookMovie.com calling it “Morbius, but slightly better.”
Tom Rhys Harries stars as Matt Hagen, with Naomi Ackie as Dr. Caitlin Corr and Max Minghella as a Gotham City detective, according to Wikipedia. Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini wrote the screenplay. The Warner Bros. release was moved from September 11 to October 23 for the Halloween window, and Wikipedia lists a budget of about $40 million. Wikipedia also describes the film as part of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.