The DCU Just Introduced its First Batman Villain, But Did James Gunn Kill Them Off Already?

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The DC Universe just brought its first major Batman villain into the franchise - and may have possibly killed them off just as quickly. Creature Commandos has kicked off the DCU for audiences, with the show serving as the opening for DCU Chapter 1: Gods And Monsters, and a prelude of sorts to the 2025 Superman movie and its July release date. That said, Creature Commandos has done an admirable job at bringing many key figures from different corners of DC lore into the franchise from its earliest possibility.
In the span of five episodes alone, the Creature Commandos cast has been extended to include Circe - a notable Wonder Woman villain - and technically a good portion of the DCU"s hero roster, albeit by showing them dead in a theoretical dystopian future that Circe warns the show"s heroes of. Creature Commandos episode 5 also brings a prominent Batman villain to the forefront of the DCU, providing the franchise with its first major member of the Dark Knight"s rogues gallery.
Creature Commandos Introduces The DCU's Clayface Close Creature Commandos episode 5 introduces the DC Universe"s version of Clayface into the world, revealing that the villain has been impersonating Isla MacPherson - the woman who saw Circe"s supposed vision of the future alongside Amanda Waller - who"s in actual fact already dead, with Clayface having presumably taken her place during the scenes with Isla in the prior episode.
Creature Commandos premiered December 5, 2024, and is set to continue until January 9, 2024.
This is especially interesting given Clayface is the DCU"s first well-known Batman villain - as while Doctor Phosphorus is also an antagonist for Batman in the comics, for example, he"s not on the main Batman villain roster in the same way Clayface is, and indeed may not even be known to many viewers as a comic enemy of the Dark Knight. With much anticipation building for Batman"s solo movie The Brave And The Bold, this is an interesting building block for the franchise to have put in place - though Clayface"s face at the end of this episode certainly complicates things in this regard.
Creature Commandos Episode 5 Appears To Kill Clayface Off

Creature Commandos episode 5 sees Rick Flag Sr. and Eric Frankenstein enter the house where it turns out Isla"s dead body and Clayface are search of answers for what is going on. Naturally, this quickly results in a fight between Clayface and the duo, showing off his powers and letting the series display another dramatic fight scene.
While Clayface gets some considerable hits in - and it appears for a period of time as though he may take down both his opponents, he"s ultimately defeated by Frankenstein blasting himself and Clayface with an electric wire. This explodes the villain, leaving him in clumps on the floor.
As such, the episode certainly appears to suggest it just killed off Clayface right after introducing the Batman villain - particularly as the serious damage Clayface did to Rick Flag Sr. arguably is more justified on a narrative level if Clayface himself died in the fray, since this gives that battle even more drama. That said, given the specific villain being discussed, things may not be as straight forward as they seem.
Why Clayface's Creature Commandos Death May Not Be Permanent

Most other characters being rendered into basically mulch would mean viewers could be quite confident they"d just witnessed a permanent death in whatever story they were watching. For Clayface, however, things are a little less cut and dry, since his usual body composition means things that would definitely have killed other people serve as more of an inconvenience for him.
Indeed, there is a precedent for Clayface returning from seeming doom in the comics, as well as storylines that have explored the idea that Clayface"s form can be split into several different bodies - something best evidenced by Katherine Karlo, Clayface"s daughter of sorts who was created by him and thus shares his powers. With all of this backdrop in mind, it"s possible that this version of Clayface was either not the only "body" of Clayface operating at that time, or failing this, that Clayface"s specific physiology means this seemingly fatal end result is just a temporary setback.
Given the potential Batman facing off against Clayface presents for the DC Universe, either of these possibilities would be worthwhile ones, since they"d allow for future Clayface storylines in the franchise, rather than ending the character"s arc almost immediately after it has begun. Hopefully, future installments of either Creature Commandos or other DC Universe projects shed more light on Clayface"s fate, whatever the case may be.
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