Aaron Paul Reportedly Joins DC’s ‘Clayface’ Cast In A Mystery Role That Has Fans Buzzing

DC Studios’ ‘Clayface’ has spent months building a reputation as the strangest, boldest swing yet in James Gunn’s rebooted universe. The film is directed by James Watkins and stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, the actor whose disfigurement sets the story’s body horror premise in motion. It belongs to the first chapter of Gunn’s DCU slate, known as Gods and Monsters, and stands apart from Matt Reeves’ Batman films.

Naomi Ackie rounds out the cast as the scientist who transforms Hagen’s body, with David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan filling out supporting roles. The project carries the distinction of being the first R rated film in the DCU, greenlit in December 2024 purely on the strength of Mike Flanagan’s screenplay. It is currently scheduled to hit theaters on October 23.

Now a new name has entered the conversation. The fan account Everything_DCU shared word that Aaron Paul has quietly joined the production, pointing to a report from Feature First as the source. According to that report, Paul has joined ‘Clayface’ in a minor role, with no character details revealed and his involvement described as brief. Neither Paul nor the studio has confirmed the casting publicly.

Paul remains best known for playing Jesse Pinkman on ‘Breaking Bad’, a role he carried into the Netflix follow up ‘El Camino’ and the final season of ‘Better Call Saul’. More recently he has stayed busy in genre television, appearing in ‘Westworld’, ‘Invincible’ and the third season of ‘Fallout’. A small but pivotal turn in a body horror blockbuster would fit neatly into that pattern.

Gunn has been candid about how unexpected this corner of the DCU turned out to be. “I didn’t plan on making a Clayface movie,” Gunn told io9, recalling that Flanagan pitched the idea and the first script draft alone was enough to win him over.

Early test screenings for ‘Clayface’ are said to have gone over well, drawing comparisons to ‘Joker’, ‘Vanilla Sky’, ‘The Substance’ and even ‘The Incredible Hulk’. The current cut reportedly runs about one hour and 50 minutes. Despite ongoing fan speculation, those same screening reports suggest Batman is never shown or referenced anywhere in the film.

If the report holds up, ‘Clayface’ would mark one of Paul’s most notable film roles since ‘Mission Impossible III’. It is another surprising addition to a movie that keeps stacking talent while revealing almost nothing about its plot. With months still to go before release, what kind of role do you think Aaron Paul could be hiding behind all that clay?