Tag: DC Studios

Clayface (2026) | REVIEW

Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen in CLAYFACE -- PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).
Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen in CLAYFACE — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by James Watkins — Screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini.

Clayface isn’t the first film based on, and about, a comic book villain, and I very much doubt it is the last. These villain-centric origin story narratives have arguably been more common with Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off universe of films, like Venom or Morbius, inspired by the aforementioned Marvel Comics hero’s rogues’ gallery. But it is a spin-off or standalone film about a DC Comics villain that has made the biggest cultural footprint, in the form of Todd Phillips’ Joker. Unlike Joker — which exists entirely in its very own version of Gotham City removed from the interconnected stories that modern superhero films are often all about — Clayface, another origin story for a DC Comics villain, very much is set up to be a part of the James Gunn-shepherded DC cinematic universe, even though it looks and feels more like a story spun off from Matt Reeves’ The Batman (both it and Clayface were filmed in Liverpool, England), which, notably, is not a part of the shared universe. While its place in the interconnected universes of DC Comics cinematic storytelling is perhaps still somewhat unclear, the film itself isn’t a headscratcher. Clayface is a thoroughly entertaining body-horror thriller that I liked quite a bit, even though certain characters are particularly thinly drawn.

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Supergirl (2026) | REVIEW

Ruthye (Eve Ridley) and Supergirl (Milly Alcock) in SUPERGIRL -- PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).
Ruthye (Eve Ridley) and Supergirl (Milly Alcock) in SUPERGIRL — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) — Screenplay by Ana Nogueira.

Timing is of paramount importance when you want to release a highly-budgeted film in theaters around the world. You have to make sure that you’re not putting something out at a time when people are really laser-focused on other activities. One film that I think may’ve been really hurt by the timing of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer is Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl. At least, I never got around to watching it in theaters, because I prioritized other films and shows when I wasn’t watching football. It looks like I wasn’t the only one who skipped it, because it really struggled during its theatrical release, to say the least. But I was, and still am, quite interested in the title character and the film as a whole, so when this film had its streaming premiere recently, I felt compelled to give it a real chance and a full standalone review. Supergirl isn’t great, but I also don’t think it’s a disaster. It exists somewhere in the territory between unremarkable and okay, and in the process of writing this review, I tried to figure out exactly at which end I found myself.

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