'Clayface' Review: DC's Third Universe Entry Delivers Gross — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Clayface is the third film in DC's rebooted cinematic universe, following last year's "Superman" and this summer's "Supergirl," both of which received lukewarm-to-middling marks from the reviewer
- The DC Universe branding has so far failed to break through with audiences beyond the most devoted comic-book fans, according to the review
- The reviewer calls "Clayface" "Good, Gross Fun" that requires no franchise homework to enjoy, framing it as a standalone-friendly gateway title
- Deadline's review praises the film as "Fun, Scary Body Horror" that successfully molds the Batman villain's origin story, while IndieWire runs the headline "A Gross Miscalculation (Emphasis on the Gross)" — a split that signals genuine critical disagreement, not just tonal preference
- Prior DCU entries set a mixed baseline: "Superman" was "respectable enough" and "Supergirl" "a bit less so," leaving Clayface as a test of whether monster-of-the-week horror can do what the franchise's marquee heroes haven't yet managed
Why it matters: The review positions Clayface as a deliberate accessibility play — a third franchise entry designed to win over viewers who skipped Superman and Supergirl — and with critics genuinely split rather than uniformly warm, its reception becomes a real-world test of whether DC's new universe can onboard audiences through genre storytelling rather than brand recognition.
Ask SkimNews
