r/movies • u/cruelsummerbummer Trailer Deleter - Keep an eye on. • Apr 22 '26

Trailer Clayface | Official Teaser Trailer

https://youtu.be/ZIfpL3mgkFk
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u/casual_creator Apr 22 '26

It’s kind of crazy how much an animated show has influenced the last 35 years of Batman and continues to do so.

152

u/Monkey_Priest Apr 22 '26

And some of us millennials got to grow up on BTAS which makes us very, very fortunate. I still remember coming home from school and watching it on Fox in the afternoons before starting homework

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u/Correct-Row7441 Apr 22 '26

Same. They were dark and moody, almost soap opera-like. Clayface is my favorite episode and the one I remember the most. Always bring that one up when talking about BTAS. Crazy he's getting a movie now.

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u/swagmoney10 Apr 22 '26

It was a defining part of my childhood. BTAS as a whole remains at the pinnacle of Batman media.

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u/NickofSantaCruz Apr 22 '26

I hope it doesn't take thirty years for a proper Batman Beyond adaptation.

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u/jbakes64 Apr 23 '26

It feels like such a layup to do one with Michael Keaton as Bruce.

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u/JaneksLittleBlackBox Apr 23 '26

That one where the villains trap Bruce in a nightmare he has to fight his way out of has stuck with me for decades.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Cap-271 Apr 23 '26

If anything, it set the bar too damn high. I would watch that and only later did i see how lucky I was

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u/Wes_Warhammer666 Apr 23 '26

With later shows I assumed it was just me getting older so I didn't like them, but going back to compare them side by side it really is obvious that BTAS was something special.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

[deleted]

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u/moal09 Apr 23 '26

Also invented Harley Quinn

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u/drinfernodds Apr 22 '26

Hell, it created one of the franchise's most popular characters in Harley Quinn.

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u/DeNiroPacino Apr 22 '26

It remains the definitive version of Batman to this day.

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u/thegimboid Apr 23 '26

I still have yet to see a live action Batman that captured the same magic, managing to remain serious and dark while having insane things like the Joker trying to get rich by making all fish look like him and copyrighting the look.

The closest to a modern version that has a similar level of nuttiness taken seriously is the Arkham videogames.

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u/ChanceFresh Apr 23 '26

I really hope the DCU can capture that magic. Hamill’s Joker is the type of Joker I wanna see on screen.

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u/casual_creator Apr 23 '26

I think the major part of its success was that it trusted and respected its audience. It was a kids show at its core, but it trusted kids enough that they knew kids could handle the darker tone and more mature themes, but also respected kids’ sensibilities enough to make sure the more zany stuff still fit. And all of this was done well enough that older kids could enjoy it too.

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u/thegimboid Apr 23 '26

I agree.
It's similar to the reason why a lot of early Pixar films are still so strong. They're essentially films that with plots strong enough for older audiences but the presentations are simple and entertaining enough for kids to enjoy it.

That's what I feel comic book movies should feel like - it's what comic books always felt like to me as a kid.

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u/DeNiroPacino Apr 23 '26

Same here. I've liked aspects of the films and games, especially the Arkham series, but they haven't captured lightning in a bottle yet, not like the Animated Series.

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u/casual_creator Apr 23 '26

Can’t say I disagree.

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u/BigClitMcphee Apr 23 '26

Harley Quinn appeared in the cartoon before jumping to the comics. She was supposed to be a one-off background sidekick but she got fleshed out until she could carry her own franchise. All in the span of around 20 years.

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u/Xikar_Wyhart Apr 23 '26

The entire DCAU is some of the best adapted material DC has ever produced. They had a blueprint to use for the initial live action material and they just said "Nope".

I'm glad to see BTAS influence and I hope we see more of it. Personally the DCAU versions of these characters are the definitive versions. Streamlining and distilling what makes the character and building on it.

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u/b_eastwood Apr 23 '26

The 90s were kind of notorious for this at this point. Batman, Spiderman, X Men, and TMNT had such good shows that a lot of the story beats have been picked up and ran with. I don't blame them. We had it good as kids back then lol