Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires : Let’s NOT invoke Xipe Totec, okay?

A young Aztec boy encounters tragedy when Spanish Conquistadors murder his father, the tribe leader, and escapes to Tenochitlan to warn King Moctezuma, while learning to embrace his warrior destiny as Batman!

Welcome home, fans of all things Batman! First off be aware, as the lead-in says, this new cartoon movie is not some fantastical piece where Bruce Wayne fell into a time portal, no, this is a brand new character only connected to the whole Batman mythos by, well, bats, and a mantle, and costume and training to take on the bad guys thing. That being said, let’s get into the San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel for Aztec Batman!

The panel was moderated by animation superstar Jorge R. Gutierrez, director of The Book of Life and Maya and the Three who has a voice credit in the film; joined by producers Jose C. Garcia de Letona and Aaron Berger; an advisor of alternate programming from Warner Bros. studio; the director himself Juan Jose Meza Leon, known for 2012’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rick and Morty, Harley Quinn and so much more; writer Ernie Altbacker, known for so many DC titles, everything from Injustice to Green Lantern: Beware My Power; Horacio Garcia Rojas, star of many many Latino shows and films, the voice of Yohualli and eventually Batman himself; Raymond Cruz, recognizable for everything from Mayans M.C. to The Curse of La Llorona, as the English voice of Yoka, better known to us as the Joker; and finally, known for his work on Spongebob and The Cuphead Show, music composer Ego Plum.

Gutierrez was more than a bit excited and dropped several F-bombs in his eagerness to express to the audience just how really-very-good the movie is; he’s seen it already, of course, and can’t wait for us to see it too.

The producers all happily talked about taking the Batman mythology through a filter of
Meso-American history and culture and mythology, collaborating between Warner Bros. studios with productions taking place in Mexico, Peru, and even Brazil. Everyone laughed as it was related how they came to Warner Bros. with this outside of the entire Batman canon idea, this is not Bruce Wayne going back in time or what have you, we were whole-cloth creating a mythology around the mythos of Mexican and Aztec culture, and these guys (Warner Bros.) said, “You’re crazy – let’s do this.”

Leon talked about his enthusiasm for the project right away, how just those two words together – Batman Azteca – are so powerful, and when he was offered the opportunity for the film, his face lit up and he immediately saw the potential for it. “ As this epic, war-animated action epic kind of thing, not just another cartoon with some fancy backdrops, with a story that is emotional and passionate, to have a bit of heart in there too, and to also remember that Batman is a human

character created by tragedy and loss, a very human emotion we wanted to portray in the movie as well, but also the ability to create a world based in the culture that I grew up learning about, the Azteca and the Mexica, being able to combine that with my fan-boying over Batman, it was a beautiful challenge and I’m very grateful to be part of it.”

Rojas came out to heartfelt cheers from the audience, proudly sporting a helmet that was clearly a recreation of the Batman final look from the film, and spoke passionately about the need to use movies and TV shows, and entertainment to build bridges to one another, especially in the current upheaved political and social climate.

Rojas, when asked what drew him to want to play young Yohualli and Batman himself, stood so he could see the audience better and rhapsodized on thus: “You. (gesturing at the fans in the huge audience) All of you I can see out there, I can see different kinds of people, different color scheme, different heritage, different languages, and we’re here in the same room, and we create something (a fandom) together.” He spoke of how being called “nerd” and (something insulting involving brown skin not worth repeating) is no longer an insult to him, for he’s proud to be these things, and so proud to showcase these traits in the midst of being Aztec Batman himself.

It was a surprise to the audience that Raymond Cruz, a very recognizable Latino actor, was announced to be the English voice of Yoka, the character that embodies the Joker in the film. This version of the Joker is quite different, a former high priest who becomes entirely unhinged after hearing contradicting voices of the Gods, embracing human sacrifice, and oh yeah, summarily disfiguring himself.

Cruz talked about bringing a sense of humanity and vulnerability to this version of the Joker, which is something we don’t often see in the character, along with a visceral phase many of us will recognize from him. “He (the Joker) lives in this Aztec world, and he comes from a place of spirituality, he comes from a place of living in different realms, he lives in the here and now, but he also exists in a whole other realm where he communicates with Gods.”

Composer Ego Plum shared with the audience how his very first attendance of a Tim Burton Batman film, complete with the epic sweeping scores from Danny Elfman, is what made him decide he wanted to become a composer in life. And how, years later, feeling so very blessed to get to work on a truly unique Batman film, Plum was even more amazed and humbled when he sent a message to Danny Elfman himself, asking for permission to use parts of his OG Batman score for parts of Aztec Batman. Not only did Elfman reply in the positive and give his blessing, but Plum and Elfman spent several days composing some brand new music scores for Aztec Batman together, a truly magical and unforgettable experience for Ego Plum.

Plum also spoke about acquiring authentic implements the Azteca would actually have available, such as turtle shells, and using them to create his own real instruments, as in a xylophone made from turtle shells, come on, to create his own unique sound for the film’s musical score. There’s also a need for layering the gothic orchestral sound Batman is known for,

plus other more modern notes such as electric guitars to announce the arrival of Cortes and his terrible new things like gunpowder, all these things and more is taken into account and strung together in a very conscientious way by composer Ego Plum who is, at the end of the day, a huge Batman fan just like the rest of us, and wanted to do this new story glorious justice in sound.

The creators and directors, and talent all promised us some other familiar characters would grace the film – Cortes as Two-Face, Alvarado as Azrael, there’s a version of Catwoman known as of course, Jaguar Woman, a plant-Goddess version of Poison Ivy, even a version of Alfred to teach our fledgling his warrior ways!

Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires will be released on HBO Max and in Mexican theaters by Cinepolis Distribucion, on September 18th, 2025!