Clayface actor Tom Rhys Harries has teased how powerful his new DCU villain really is. The new movie details the origin story of Matt Hagen, an actor who resorts to extreme measures after he’s become disfigured to return to his former glory.

However, his treatment sparks an extreme transformation, turning him into a shapeshifting clay monster. In the DC comics, he’s a Batman villain, and Harries thinks he would have a very good shot at taking down the Caped Crusder.

“Yeah I could take Batman out,” he told told SFX magazine in the new issue. “Clayface is so overpowered comparative to Batman. I can become anyone. I can become anything. Once Matt gains control over his powers then you’re in a space where you’re like, ‘What do you want to use these for’.”

His comments follow on from the director James Watkins sharing his vision for creating Gotham that feels like Batman can walk around the corner at any point. “You’re in a city called Gotham,” he added to SFX. “So I guess you feel the shadow of the Bat inherently. Because of the nature of where you are.”

Batman has been existing on the periphery of the DCU for a while now after he appeared in animated form in Creature Commandos. In Lanterns, we learned that one of the lead characters, Kerry, is from Gotham, and Hal Jordan even referenced Batman when speaking to Guy Gardner.

However, the character has yet to make a live-action debut yet and it’s not yet clear who will play him in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s ongoing plans. Clayface is the closest we’ve got to the Dark Knight yet as we see live-action Gotham properly for the first time in the new DCU.

Clayface hits theaters on October 23. For more from the DCU, check out our guides to upcoming DC movies and shows and our breakdown of how to watch the DC movies in order.