Clayface's First Rotten Review Vanished — Embargo Drama

DC's R-rated horror gamble hits theatres on Friday, but the Clayface review saga exploded two days early. On Monday night, ComicBookMovie critic Josh Wilding posted the first-ever Rotten Tomatoes verdict on the film — a rotten 2.5 out of 5, crowned with a line DC fans will be quoting for weeks: "DC's Morbius moment." By Tuesday, the review had vanished from Rotten Tomatoes, and the film was back to having no score. With the official review embargo lifting today, October 21, the full critical picture is about to land — and the drama around this first verdict only raises the stakes.

The Review That Disappeared Overnight

Wilding's review wasn't a total pan — he praised Tom Rhys Harries' lead performance as the standout — but it stung where it hurt. He called the horror "too thin," said the comic-book personality was missing, and predicted audiences would forget the film. For a movie Warner Bros. has sold as a "true horror film," that verdict cuts deep. Then, without explanation, Rotten Tomatoes pulled the review. The film's page showed no score once again, and conspiracy theories erupted immediately — some critics pointed out that Warner Bros. holds a minority stake in Fandango, which owns Rotten Tomatoes.

"I Paid for My Ticket" — The Embargo Defense

Wilding's response is the part that actually matters. He caught flak on X for supposedly breaking the embargo — but his answer was blunt: there was no embargo for him to break. He didn't attend a studio screening. He bought a ticket to an Odeon Scream Unseen public mystery screening in the UK, where the audience doesn't know the film until the lights go down. This time, it was Clayface. "I paid to watch a film at a public screening and shared my review," Wilding posted, adding that he has never broken an embargo he agreed to abide by. He later said he spoke with Rotten Tomatoes and called the situation "all good, no drama." The full review remains live on ComicBookMovie, and he says he'll repost it to Rotten Tomatoes once the embargo lifts.

What Early Audiences Actually Think (Letterboxd 3.7)

Before critics weigh in, the early-audience barometer has already spoken: Clayface debuted on Letterboxd with a 3.7 out of 5 — solid, not spectacular. The spread tells the real story. One reviewer gave it 4.5 stars, saying it exceeded every expectation and that Gotham has never felt this gloomy. Another praised it as a poignant, gory look at one of Batman's more tragic villains. On the other end, a 3-star review compared it to a Sony Spider-Man villain movie and a less ambitious riff on Joker. Harries' performance is the consensus bright spot; the screenplay and pacing are the recurring complaints.

Reviews Land Today as International Rollout Begins

Today is the hinge point Warner Bros. has been building toward. The social-media embargo lifted way back on October 13 — one of the earliest in DCU history — producing largely positive reactions that compared the body horror to The Fly and Darkman. The full review embargo lifts today, October 21, the film begins its international rollout today, and North America follows on Friday, October 23. The reported $40 million budget means DC doesn't need a blockbuster to win — it needs decent reviews and decent legs. By tonight, we'll know if this "Morbius moment" was a one-off outlier or the start of something worse.

Related: Clayface Box Office: $30M Opening Prediction Explained — the tracking numbers behind Friday's launch. Also see Best Horror Movies October 2026: Clayface Leads the Halloween Pack — the full scary-season lineup.