You think you know every version of the Dark Knight? Every creative animated iteration of Batman in the DC Universe? How many of you know this one?
After the murder of his father, Chief Toltecatzin (Jorge R. Guitié’rrez), by conquistador Hernán Cortés (Álvaro Morte), Yohualli/Yohu (Horacio Garcia Rojas) has no choice but to become The Bat Warrior to protect the Aztec community. Batman Azteca: Clash of the Empires will be available to stream on HBO Max September 19th.
Spoilers ahead.
The main question of the entire film is: What makes someone a god?
Upon arrival, Cortés, his bodyguard Pedro de Alvarado (José Carlos Illanes Puentes), and their fellow colonizers are mistaken as gods by a young and naive Yohualli. Toltecatzin was suspicious of the colonizers the moment they talked about finding the Aztec’s land as the new world. A favorite line of mine is Toltecatzin’s response: “You found the New World?”
When Yohualli is older and becomes a soldier for Chief Moctezuma (Humberto Busto), he explains, Cortés is “not a god, but he is a powerful and cruel man.” Moctezuma’s spiritual advisor Yoka (Omar Chaparro), manipulated by an impersonator of the god Huitzilopochtli (Gerardo Reyero), says to Moctezuma that Cortés and his people are gods because they’re helping feed the gods with sacrifices. Yoka is later kicked out of the advisory for this mistake. After he is manipulated into sacrificing his family, and even finds out Huitzilopochtli is a fake, Yoka becomes The Joker, promising his mother (Regina Orozco) that he will smile more. The Joker eventually kills Moctezuma and joins Cortés.
When his community sees Yohaualli in his Bat armor and makeup, they call him a god, and he doesn’t correct them due to his connection with his parents’ bat god in his dreams. I truly love the connection to Mexican mysticism in this iteration that makes Youahlli’s narrative arc a natural destiny and not a savior complex; especially considering most iterations of Batman portraying him as a rich white man desperately collaborating with cops in Gotham City.
Batman Azteca: Clash of the Empires doesn’t try to erase the history of colonization and its evils just because a Brown character is finally the star. It doesn’t go into the territory of trying to portray a utopia post-battles either.
I’m also impressed by how Cortés becomes Two-Face after Mujer Jaguar (Teresa Ruiz) scratches half of his face off when she and Yohalli first work together in battle. It is parallel to the two faces he shows every Aztec community he pillages and murders; one face as a soft Christian man wanting to learn more about their culture, and another face that seeks destruction and riches.
Not only are there familiar aspects done in a new way, there are complete firsts. This is the first iteration I have seen the Alfred Pennyworth equivalent, Acatzin (Robert Sosa) as Batman’s equal throughout the film. We finally get to see acknowledgement of the father figure he truly is in a Batman’s life. Moreover, this is the first iteration I have seen Poison Ivy as a more neutral character as the goddess Hiedra del Bosque (Maya Zapata). She gently and not so gently puts Yohualli/Yohu on his path while remaining a neutral party; because “When empires clash, some will rise, some will fall.”
One aspect of the film I have follow up questions about is the decision behind casting. I love that it is an all Latinx cast. At the same time, although the animation distinguishes Aztecs of different skin colors indicative of different regions of Mexico, and makes sure to conspicuously highlight that it was white fair skinned Latinx people who colonized, why is only one specific kind of Latinx actor cast for each role? Each of the actors have the exact same skin color, a skin color often in conversation about mestizo, or the fetishizing of mixing Indigenous Mexican identity with its colonizers, which is what this film attempts to fight against.
Nevertheless, the other hard work in this film doesn’t go unnoticed. The most compelling scene is when Yohu is not in the bat costume but is Moctezuma’s guard, he strikes a conversation with the man who murdered his father about his worldview. Why would Cortés believe in a religious worldview that encourages him to murder people? Cortés then asks Yohu why they discovered them before they could discover his and his fellow colonizers’ land.
Although I wanted more characterization from Mujer Jaguar, and I was really hoping for a subversion or erasure of the usual romantic trope between Catwoman and Batman, I loved having her presence in the film. I also loved her fight choreography all throughout, including in the end (even though she originally said she wouldn’t help The Bat Warrior).
After the final battle, The Bat Warrior dies. However, as Mujer Jaguar asks Acatzin if the fighting is over, and he responds “I fear there’s far more evil to come,” we cut to The Bat Warrior waking up! AH!! AND, after the initial end credits, we get a sneak peak of who The Penguin will be. AH!!
This is only the first of many collaborations HBO Max Latin America has in store. And with a few caveats, I’m excited to see what will come next.
Don’t forget to watch Batman Azteca: Clash of the Empires September 19th!
Maya Williams (ey/em, they/them, & she/her) is a writer based in Portland, ME. Maya has contributed to spaces such as The Tempest, Black Youth Project, RaceBaitr, The Gay Gaze, and more.
