DC StudiosDC’s latest origin story has been compared to many things, not all of them complimentary. Because it’s the first film in the new DC Universe set in Gotham City — but has absolutely no mention of the city’s Caped Crusader, Batman — Clayface’s easiest point of comparison might be Sony supervillain movies like Venom or (shudders) Morbius. At turns it evokes the beats of another Batman-less solo movie, Joker, and at its best, it reaches for the pulp and dread of a Universal monster movie. But there’s another element to Clayface that might make or break our understanding of the film: Is it also kind of... a rom-com?Tom Rhys Harries, who guides the titular villain (formerly known as Matt Hagen) on his descent from Oscar-nominated superstar to murderous monster, certainly seems to think so. Though the first half of Matt’s journey is appropriately harrowing, packed with flashes of body horror gruesome enough to churn anyone’s stomach, the violence isn’t really what drives him. “Matt isn’t aware that he’s in a horror film,” Harries tells Inverse. “I think he thinks he’s in a romantic comedy.”It makes sense: the only reason Matt gets into the situation he does is thanks to a dalliance with a mobster’s girlfriend. When Gotham’s most powerful gangster, Markos Zsabo (David Dencik), cuts up his face in retaliation, Matt is stripped of all his influence and potential. It’s Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) — a pioneer in nanotech in need of a human guinea pig — who effectively gives him a different kind of power. She also inadvertently becomes the heart of Matt’s true villain turn, pitching Clayface into an ending that’s as perversely romantic (and funny) as it is tragic.Spoilers ahead for Clayface.Clayface’s ending, explainedThere’s a lot of angst in Clayface, but some surprising (if one-sided) romance. | DC StudiosAfter his altercation with Zsabo, Matt finds himself financially and emotionally drained. He volunteers for trials with Caitlyn’s company without knowing whether her bleeding-edge nanobot technology will actually repair what copious cosmetic surgeries could not. Across weeks of cautious experimentation, his good looks are gradually restored — but he learns the hard way that the “nanocells” in his skin respond to his emotions, keeping him handsome on good days and melting his face off on the bad. In a desperate move, Matt injects himself with a dangerously high dose; he’s now more nanocell than flesh and blood, which means that the abort switch built into Caitlyn’s program will probably wipe him out if they decide to pull the plug.All seems well until Matt discovers that Zsabo’s attack was coordinated between the gangster and Matt’s manager (Eddie Marsan). One by one, he confronts the people who betrayed him, murders them — accidentally at first, and then on purpose — and shapeshifts into them to flee the scene. This is his personal brand of justice: not even his childhood best friend, Corey (Joshua James), comes out unscathed. In a lot of ways, Matt’s descent is a sad one... but Clayface also makes his revenge feel fun, like when he storms Zsabo’s nightclub and picks off his goons one at a time, transforming from one decoy to another on the dance floor.“It’s like when you go on a really great rollercoaster ride and you’re kind of giddy,” director James Watkins says of Clayface’s heel turn. “You’ve been on the journey with [Matt]. And then in that scene, as he’s discovering his powers, there’s a sort of dark glee in what he does — but at that point you’ve still got permission to enjoy it.”The power of love?In the end, John is a bigger threat to Matt than Zsabo. | DC StudiosThe fun comes to an end as Matt’s instincts grow more erratic. Notably, it’s Caitlyn who helps ground him when his emotions get out of control and he transforms into the proto-Clayface: slack-jawed, dead-eyed, and with skin that looks more like tan goo. “He initially sets off to achieve one thing, and in the rigmarole of what happens to him, realizes that his priorities are out of whack and completely falls in love with somebody,” Harries adds. In Matt’s head, he’s falling for Caitlyn just as readily as she is for him — but there’s one thing standing in the way of their happily ever after: her fiancé, Gotham PD detective John Borrelli (Max Minghella). John has been tracking the demise of everyone on Matt’s bad side and ultimately deduces that our hero is the one behind the body count. Matt is a few steps ahead; he murders John before he can take his investigation any farther, then transforms into him to greet Caitlyn as she gets home. With no further obstacles in their way, Matt confesses his love to Caitlyn, but he’s gone way too far. Caitlyn has no choice but to abort the program just as Matt fully transforms into a hulking, shapeshifting beast. He and the nanocells slip down a drainpipe, never to be seen (by Caitlyn, at least) again.Matt’s final transformation makes it impossible not to think about Batman. | DC StudiosOf course, what was supposed to destroy Matt only makes him more powerful. We catch up with Caitlyn in Clayface’s epilogue, and learn that her assets have been seized for a thorough investigation. Though she tells the GCPD that Matt could not have survived, he’s still alive and well, watching over Caitlyn disguised as a stranger passing by on the street, and acting out conversations with his own version of “Caitlyn” — yes, he can now project his body far enough to create what are essentially puppets — in his new home in the sewers. Matt’s imaginary love with Caitlyn definitely isn’t enough to satisfy him, though. In Clayface’s final moments, we get a good look at the villain’s final form, whom we later meet in Creature Commandos.Part-origin story, part-twisted love affair, Clayface isn’t afraid to have a bit of fun in the darkness. This likely isn’t the last we’ll see of Clayface, but the next time he appears, it’ll probably be in a very different movie: Batman’s.Clayface is now playing in theaters.