Clayface's First Live-Action Appearance Was In A Forgotten Batman TV Series

Warner Bros. and DC Studios are getting ready to unleash a mainstream comic book film, the likes of which we don't see too often, if ever. "Clayface" is an R-rated body horror movie set in the new DC Universe. It stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor who becomes the "Batman" villain at the center of this new major motion picture. You can check out the newly unveiled "Clayface" teaser trailer right here.

However, while this film represents Clayface's first live-action appearance in a theatrically-released feature, it's not the first time he's popped up in non-animated form. Indeed, the character made his live-action debut back in 2003 in an episode of The WB's "Birds of Prey." That's not to be confused with the DC Extended Universe box office flop "Birds of Prey," which features Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.

The WB, before it became The CW, gave audiences a small screen version of the Birds of Prey team that operated in Gotham City and was composed of Huntress (Ashley Scott), Batgirl (Dina Meyer), and Black Canary (Rachel Skarsten). In this version of DC's mythology, Huntress is Helena Kyle, herself the daughter of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. Eventually, the show reveals that Helena's mother was killed by none other than Clayface (Kirk Baltz), who was hired to murder her by the Joker (played physically by Roger Stoneburner and voiced by Mark Hamill).

We get to see Clayface in the flesh in "Birds of Prey" Season 1's penultimate episode, titled "Feat of Clay," which features Baltz as the Cassius Payne version of the villain. Many characters have taken on the identity of Clayface in DC's comics, of course, but they generally all wind up with clay-like bodies and possess identical shapeshifting abilities, making them formidable.

In the case of "Birds of Prey," we're talking about an early 2000s superhero TV show that was made before networks were investing lots of money into these things. So, what we got was something a little less than impressive, visually speaking. Case in point: The above image offers a taste of what Kirk Baltz looked like as Clayface on the series. By modern standards? It's rough. Honestly, it's rough by 2003 standards as well.

The WB canceled the "Birds of Prey" TV show after just one season, meaning it's a short-lived and oft-forgotten part of on-screen DC history. So, one would be forgiven for not remembering this fondly as the first time we got to see Clayface in the flesh. It wasn't on "Smallville," a DC Comics show a lot of people loved, nor was it in the Arrowverse, which flourished on The CW for years before packing it in for good not too long ago. Rather, "Birds of Prey" is a one-and-done series that most people probably don't even know about.

Clayface himself, meanwhile, has yet to realize his full potential outside DC's comics universe. He was one of the coolest villains in "Batman: The Animated Series" and a great part of the "Batman: Arkham" video games, but there's obviously a whole lot of room for improvement when it comes to the villain's live-action depictions. Basically, between the film's R-rating and lack of guardrails, "Clayface" director James Watkins ("Speak No Evil") and writer Mike Flanagan ("The Haunting of Hill House") have room to do something special here. We'll see what happens.

"Clayface" hits theaters on October 23, 2026.