Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires

• Spanish: Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios
• Directed and Written by Juan Meza-León
• September 18, 2025 (Mexico) / September 19, 2025 (US)
• Based on the DC Comics character Batman created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane

Voice Cast

• Yohualli Coatl/Batman-Jay Hernandez
• Yoka/Joker-Raymond Cruz
• Hernán Cortés/Two-Face-Álvaro Morte
• Toltecatzin (variant of Thomas Wayne)-Jorge R. Gutiérrez
• Pedro de Alvarado (variant of Azrael)-José Carlos Illanes
• Jaguar Woman (variant of Catwoman)-Teresa Ruiz
• Forest Ivy (variant of Poison Ivy)-Maya Zapata

After his father is killed by conquistadors, a young Aztec boy as an adult defies the Spanish invaders to protect his people.

I was a little intrigued by the idea of Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires. If executed right, it could be a new Gotham by Gaslight. I am generally down for an alternate reality take on a character. Cannot say though this entirely stuck the landing.

I went into this with no illusions about there not being politics in the film. We get some ham-fisted dialogue over the term ‘New World’ in the opening scene between Hernán Cortés who becomes this story’s Two-Face and the village leader Toltecatzin that is the Thomas Wayne equivalent. This sadly was an indication of the not-so-great writing to come.

A viewpoint is not the problem. How it is communicated or portrayed on the screen is and director Juan Meza-León along with a screenwriter Ernie Altbacker in a story by Altbacker and Juan Meza-León do a bad job here. Clash of Empires is not aimed at getting past perceptions and maybe get a viewer to think. It is aimed at an already supportive audience thus seeking clapter. Classic Trek had a distinct ideology but was crafted in such a way that it got those that did not embrace it to think. This tells you what to think or reaffirms previous concepts.

Yohualli Coatl/Batman wears an interesting take on the famous duds but as a hero he’s a bit lacking. He really doesn’t experience much of a journey where he grows into the part. One moment he’s getting helped by the Catwoman knock off and the next he’s facing off against the Two-Face version while taking on all assembled Spanish forces. He goes from unknown to skilled icon of the people with almost no time.

Hernán Cortés/Two-Face is generic as a threat. His evil is surface level with the cruelty being done for the sake of being cruel. These aspects get attached in broad ways to real events but are crafted with no depth making him forgettable. He lacks the interesting complexity of Harvey Dent from who he gets his appearance and little more.

There is the Catwoman variant that when paired with the hero is the only one of the two that is capable. There’s nothing wrong with a hero needing aid in his first outing, but if he can’t even handle the task before him on any level, then how are we is an audience to believe he can eventually step up?

This movie even crams in a version of Poison Ivy and the Joker though the only character in this whole movie that gets a little interesting is Yoka/Joker. He is tricked by an evil god who decides to topple the Aztecs (or set in motion events that will anyway) for reasons. You can find alternate history stories that reframe events by giving them a substantive new reason/way of happening but here it is just because.

If Clash of Empires had taken an approach like any number of 80s action movies that connected to the Vietnam War and decided to rewrite the history of the Spanish conquest I would’ve kind of been okay with that. Instead we get a story about the Aztec Batman fighting a losing battle. Nothing wrong with writing of a losing battle. The lesson in those is to step up in the situation even if you fail. Rocky did that admirably. This just doesn’t do it at all-even poorly.

I detected the occasional note of classic animated Batman: The Animated Series here and there. I guess it was a subtle way to remind you that this was a Batman movie. Beyond that It feels like something superficially like Batman that relies on Batman for you to understand its not-Batman universe cast of characters. I am hard pressed to tell the difference from memory of anybody beyond the superficial character designs.

Despite the subtitle Clash of Empires, it doesn’t feel epic. It is a little personal drama with the impending conquest feeling secondary. Yohualli Coatl/Batman despite seeking justice really has greater things that need to be considered. At the point of the climax they all know the Spaniards will keep coming if they do not do something with Yoka/Joker doing his darndest to make that happen. All done with Archer-type stiff animation.

I found Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires underwhelming and kind of boring. It has a view but fails to be interesting.