James Gunn Downplays What Those Clayface Set Photos Suggest About the DCU's Gotham City

Over the past fewer weeks, photos from the Liverpool shooting locations of Clayface person been each implicit societal media, providing glimpses of the archetypal Gotham City to beryllium depicted successful the DCU. Fans and media outlets, including IGN, person made a repast implicit what the props and acceptable decoration uncover astir the DCU’s Gotham City.

For example, this representation of Gotham City confirms that Wayne Manor, Wayne Tower and Wayne Industries seemingly already beryllium successful Clayface’s timeline.

Onlookers person snapped photos of The Wayne Community Center, caught references to the cause “bliss” from the HBO bid The Penguin (which is not successful the DCU), and Club Vesuvius,

Here’s a Gotham licence plate, an homage to Clayface co-creator Bill Finger, and a motion to Batman creator Jim Aparo connected this funny missing idiosyncratic poster.

But erstwhile I spoke to DC Studios co-chief James Gunn connected Friday, helium downplayed the value of what those acceptable decorations suggest astir the DCU’s Gotham City.

IGN: We're getting our archetypal look astatine the DCU's Gotham City successful Clayface, and there's a ton of those small Easter eggs successful the acceptable photos. How canon is immoderate of that stuff? Like there's a notation of Joker, there's a Penguin Man poster. Should we instrumentality that inheritance worldly arsenic thing much than conscionable inheritance stuff?

James Gunn: You truly person to instrumentality it arsenic thing that an creation section enactment unneurotic due to the fact that I never... First of all, there's a mates of things that I don't adjacent deliberation were connected the set, similar that bat insignia. I deliberation idiosyncratic enactment that determination afterwards. But I haven't seen each those things, but they weren't thing that came crossed my desk.

And also, we person a guy, Phil, who is present successful complaint of the DCU Bible of keeping everything accordant and making definite that the cities are the aforesaid and the maps are the aforesaid and the celebrities are the same, each the worldly that they request to support consistent. And I don't deliberation he's OK’d each the creation section worldly connected that movie.

IGN: So each those maps of Gotham City, we can't get our hopes up over?

James Gunn: I don't deliberation so. I don't deliberation so, no.

That Batman insignia that Gunn refers to is from 2022’s The Batman, which led immoderate fans to speculate that Robert Pattinson’s Batman is successful the DCU. But a examination of the quality vans and GCPD patrol cars from some films marque wide they’re not successful the aforesaid continuity. It’s coincidental that some Clayface and The Batman utilized Liverpool arsenic their Gotham City.

The James Watkins-directed, Mike Flanagan-scripted assemblage fearfulness movie Clayface – which stars Tom Rhys Harries. Naomie Ackie and Max Minghella – opens successful theaters September 2026.

For much from my James Gunn interview, work his answers to our burning questions astir Peacemaker Season 2’s “consequential” DCU cameo and wherefore “things are successful flux” for the Batman: The Brave and the Bold movie.