‘Clayface’ Debuts on Rotten Tomatoes With a Score That Beats ‘Supergirl’

DC Studios has spent this year trying to prove that its shared universe can be more than capes and sunlit heroics. ‘Clayface‘, an R-rated body horror about one of Batman’s most tragic villains, is the boldest test of that idea so far. It also arrives with the weight of a rough summer behind it, which makes the critical verdict matter more than usual.

The run-up to that verdict has been noisy. Warner Bros. lifted the social media embargo on October 13, and early reactions from critics and creators leaned heavily positive, with praise for the gore, Tom Rhys Harries’ performance and comparisons to ‘The Fly’ and ‘Darkman’. Early audience ratings on Letterboxd landed at a 3.7 average out of 5, which would put the film behind only ‘The Batman’ and ‘Superman’ among DC releases of this decade.

Some viewers were more measured, saying the body horror and lead performance were excellent but that the story and a few odd choices made it a strange third entry for a DCU still finding its identity. That mixed undercurrent has made the official Tomatometer debut a closely watched moment.

With the full review embargo lifted on October 21, the ‘Clayface’ Rotten Tomatoes score now sits at 77% based on 44 reviews. The film carries the red tomato icon of a Fresh rating, while the Popcornmeter audience score has not yet populated. The R-rated feature runs 1 hour and 48 minutes and opens in theaters on October 23.

It is an early number, and it will likely move as more reviews arrive. Still, a Fresh debut for a movie built around a lesser-known Batman villain is a meaningful result for a studio that badly wanted a win.

The context makes the number more interesting. ‘Supergirl’ landed in the 57% to 58% range on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest-rated project in the DCU at the time, while ‘Superman’ holds an 83% critic score. ‘Creature Commandos’ earned 95% and ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 earned 94%.

That puts ‘Clayface’ comfortably ahead of ‘Supergirl’ but short of the best-reviewed DCU entries. For a film that cost a reported $40 million, a score in the high 70s is a respectable middle ground, and it suggests critics are responding to the experiment even when they have reservations.

Not every critic has been on board. ComicBookMovie’s Josh Wilding posted the first review on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of the embargo, giving the film 2.5 out of 5 and calling it “DC’s Morbius moment”. He praised Harries but described the horror as disappointingly tame and forgettable.

That review was removed from the site shortly afterward, which sparked a dispute among critics. Wilding said he paid to see the film at a public UK screening and had no agreement with Warner Bros., and he said he planned to repost it once the official embargo lifted. The episode shows how fiercely this release is being watched.

Watch the first trailer for #Clayface. The new DC horror film is in theaters October 23. https://t.co/gqrrtJSou5

— Rotten Tomatoes 🍅 (@RottenTomatoes) April 22, 2026

The stakes are practical as well as reputational. Tracking has ‘Clayface’ opening to between $25 million and $33 million domestically, close to the $37.1 million ‘Supergirl’ opened with. That earlier film finished with about $126 million worldwide against a budget of $170 million, and it was widely treated as a bomb.

A common rule of thumb suggests ‘Clayface’ needs roughly $80 million to $100 million worldwide to break even. Because it is an R-rated horror release timed right before Halloween, its path to profit looks clearer than most superhero films, and a Fresh critical score only helps.

For now, the early signs point in a hopeful direction. Strong Letterboxd numbers, a Fresh Tomatometer and a modest budget give DC Studios something it has lacked in recent months, which is momentum going into opening weekend.

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