There's been much said about the Tom Rhys Harries-helmed, James (Speak No Evil) Watkins-directed Clayface trailer this past week, with conjecture landing on just how it might coexist within Batman's legacy without Batman featured.
There's little doubt that the movie will lean on body-horror tropes, though I imagine Clayface, aka Matt Hagen, will come to adapt a more subdued methodology for his physiological stunts, if only for the sake of inconspicuous survival, which brings to mind a fascinating, first-season, Twilight Zone episode.
Scripted by Rod Serling, from on a tale penned by George Clayton Johnson, and directed by John Brahm, "The Four of Us Are Dying" introduces a man with the uncanny ability to change his features by mere thought. For quite a spell, this Twilight Zone concept struck me as a viable blueprint to incorporate Clayface into a serious ("grounded") track of Caped Crusader cinema.
However, even before associating Serling/Johnson's novelty with Batman, I believed that "The Four of Us Are Dying" could work on its own accord, as a movie, novel or series. For the latter, it might hold a Fugitive/Run for Your Life/Then Came Bronson structure, with its morphing lead traveling from town to town, city to city, maybe even nation to nation for some cause or another. Perhaps our bold shapeshifter would do so for no other reason than to broaden his horizons.
I can only guess what Clayface might entrail. I'd like the "Four of Us Are Dying" approach, though, and the trailer does insinuate such. I just find it peculiar that others haven't detected the obvious.
