DC Studios Will Officially Break Its 21-Year Batman Release Rule in 2026

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DC Studios is changing its usual approach for its upcoming Batman movies, which fans are very excited about. Two new films featuring the Dark Knight are in the works: a sequel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman, titled The Batman: Part 2, and a new take on the character as part of the DC Universe in The Brave and the Bold. While The Batman 2 is currently slated for October 2027 after a five-year wait, another Batman-related film, Clayface, will arrive first, following the success of Joker. Set within the DCU, Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor struggling with misfortune who becomes a terrifying shapeshifter.

During a presentation to investors in February, IMAX announced its movie plans for 2026. Unlike the upcoming Supergirl movie and last summer’s Superman, the Clayface villain spin-off won’t be shown in IMAX theaters. This makes Clayface the first Batman-related film in over 20 years – since Batman Begins in 2005 – to skip the premium IMAX format.

IMAX technology wasn’t widely used in major Hollywood films until after 2002. Batman Begins, released in June 2005, was one of the first to be specially updated for the IMAX format. Director Christopher Nolan then took it a step further with The Dark Knight, making it the first Batman movie actually filmed with IMAX cameras – a technique he’s become known for.

For the past 21 years, every major Batman movie released in theaters – including both Joker films and even The Lego Batman Movie – has also been shown in IMAX.

  • Batman Begins (2005)
  • The Dark Knight (2008)
  • The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
  • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
  • The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
  • Justice League (2017)
  • Joker (2019)
  • The Batman (2022)
  • The Flash (2023)
  • Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Although we won’t see Batman in a major movie until next year’s The Batman 2, DC’s iconic hero will be back on screen sooner than that! He’s scheduled to appear in four new films and TV series before then, including a movie based on a fan-favorite comic book story.

Why Isn’t Clayface Being Released In IMAX?

As a huge cinema fan, I was a little bummed to hear that Clayface got pushed back from September 11th to October 26th. But honestly, it might be a good thing – it lands right in spooky season, and more importantly, it helps clear up a scheduling issue for the DCU’s plans in 2026. It also means we won’t have a clash with Paramount’s Street Fighter movie, which is coming out on October 16th and was filmed for IMAX, so it’s probably going to need those big screens for a while.

DC Studios filmed its body horror film, Clayface, for only $40 million – a surprisingly low budget compared to typical superhero movies which usually cost between $150 and $200 million. This smaller budget likely meant they didn’t use expensive IMAX cameras, as those are costly to operate.

Even though Clayface is no longer being filmed in IMAX, ending a long run for Batman movies in that format, the film will still be visually impressive. DC Studios is choosing practical effects and body horror techniques over heavy CGI to create Clayface’s shapeshifting abilities, which will also help keep the budget down.

While the upcoming Clayface movie won’t be released in IMAX, the studio still plans to use the format for Supergirl, Man of Tomorrow, and The Batman: Part 2. Don’t worry – this decision for Clayface is probably just a one-time thing to save money, and doesn’t mean the studio is moving away from IMAX in general.

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2026-02-26 22:05