Clayface Ending, Explained
DC's latest offering, Clayface, is in cinemas now, so let's dive into all the key plot points towards the climax of the film.
Based on the character from Batman’s Rogues Gallery, Clayface first appeared in Detective Comics #40 in June 1940 and has multiple interpretations, but the film focuses on the second version, Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), as well as some of the stand-ins from other characters. The film tells the story of Hagen’s disfigurement following a mob hit, after which he seeks out Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), whose revolutionary work with nanotechnology and plastic surgery could save his face.
However, the technology begins to transform his cellular makeup, setting him on the path to becoming the titular villain. Clayface is now in cinemas, and here’s our breakdown of the film’s final act and ending, how it might sit in the DCU, and whether it sets up a sequel.
How Does Matt Hagen Become Clayface?
In this big-screen story, Matt Hagen has gone from a kid on the street in The Narrows to becoming an Oscar nominee and is about to lead his latest romantic dramedy before a night on the town turns sour. He ends up going home with a woman who happens to be the girlfriend of Gotham crime boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik), who doesn’t take kindly to this. He and his associates cut Hagen’s face to shreds, leaving him permanently scarred.
His career over, he retreats to The Narrows and happens upon Dr. Corr and her work, which has itself collapsed into almost nothing, with her high-profile backers leaving her equally desperate. She agrees to help Matt in his plight, knowing that a successful test of her nanotechnology will get her life back, as well as Matt’s.
The two soon become closer as Corr continues to use her technology on Matt, both finding solace in each other where there seemed only isolation, despite Corr being engaged to Gotham City detective John Borelli (Max Minghella).
Soon, Matt begins to suffer from paranoia and depression, and his anger and trauma from the incident begin bubbling to the surface, manifesting themselves through the nanotechnology and allowing him to change his face and body into anybody he chooses.
Clayface Gets His Revenge
With this new ability, Matt begins to kill those who brought injustice upon him, despite Caitlyn’s protests and Borelli slowly closing in on the truth.
Matt infiltrates the local Gotham club that acts as the front for Szabo’s mob dealings and picks off his associates one by one. Passing other onlookers, he takes the form of one of the remaining goons and makes his way into Szabo’s office. The real goon then also appears, and with Szabo unsure who is who, he shoots them both dead, until Matt’s version rises from the floor and kills Szabo’s girlfriend (the one he had slept with) by forcing his clay-like skin into her mouth so she cannot breathe.
Setting his sights on Szabo, he pins him down and begins to slice his face, just as he did to him earlier. Except this time, his blood, fuelled by the nanotechnology, can heal him and begins to make its way out of Szabo and back to Matt, causing the grisly end of the crime boss.
Clayface Ending, Explained
Having brought himself some bloody vengeance, Matt desires one more thing: Caitlyn. But, her fiancé, Borelli, has now pieced together just what Matt has been up to and tells him to stay away from her if he wants to stay hidden from the authorities, no matter how corrupt they might be.
Borelli confronts Caitlyn at their house about her relationship with Matt, telling her that he wants her to be happy, even if that isn’t with him. Before she can get her words out, she notices the real Borelli dead on their floor: the Borelli she has been talking to is Matt, who has assimilated him to get Caitlyn to confess her feelings for him.
The two struggle, and Caitlyn uses a taser on Matt, who falls through a back window into an alley behind their house. She rushes outside in the rain to check on him, only to discover that the electric current from the taser has angered the nanotech. In noticeable pain, Matt begins to increase in mass, stretching into the Clayface of the comic books, with the classic facial look on show for a few seconds before the tech buckles under the weight and what is left of Matt/Clayface dissolves in the rain and pours into a nearby drain leading to the sewers.
Assumed dead, Caitlyn tells the police her story as they begin to pack up her house, then takes the metro into downtown Gotham for a change of scenery. Looking around at everyone and wondering if Matt is still alive, she buys a newspaper before bumping into a homeless man who reminds her of Matt.
Startled but intrigued, she gives him a dollar but starts to follow him to his makeshift homeless shelter, which leads into the sewers, and soon discovers that the man is, in fact, Matt, who transforms back in front of her. The two embrace, and as the camera pans away, we see Matt’s clay-like body wrap itself around Caitlyn, the two seemingly incapable of being without each other.
Will We Get Clayface 2?
What the future holds for the character, we don't quite know just yet: there are a multitude of stories that could form the basis for a potential sequel, depending on how the film is recieved, and of course there is the shadow of Batman looming large-ish over the film.
We still don't know what's happening with the Dark Knight in the DCU moving forward, either, and that decision could influence the chances of Clayface 2 happening.
So, for now, the door is very much open. But, given how the film ends, you could easily leave it there and everyone would be satisfied.
