Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios was officially announced on June 13, 2022, at the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
The project is an original animated film developed for HBO Max Latin America, offering a unique reimagining of the iconic superhero within the context of Aztec culture.
In the three years that have passed since, details and footage from the project have been very scarce...until now.
It seems ahead of Superman screenings in Mexico, a trailer for the upcoming HBO Max original animated film has been shown and fans have uploaded the footage to social media. Check it out below.
Aztec Batman will have a panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, so it's expected that we'll finally get an official release date for the project. The panel will take place on Thursday, July 24, 3:30 p.m. PT, in Room 6BCF.
The film's director, Juan Meza-Leon, is expected to be in attendance, along with several members of the voice cast.
The official synopsis for the film reads, "In the time of the Aztec Empire, Yohualli Coatl — a young Aztec boy — experiences tragedy when his father and village leader, Toltecatzin, is murdered by Spanish Conquistadors. Yohualli escapes to Tenochtitlan to warn King Moctezuma and his high priest, Yoka, of the imminent danger. Using the bat god Tzinacan’s temple as a lair, Yohualli trains with his mentor and assistant, Acatzin, developing equipment and weaponry to confront the Spaniard invasion, protect Moctezuma’s temple, and avenge his father’s death."
Besides an Aztec version of The Dark Knight, other Batman mythos characters confirmed to appear (albeit reimagined) include Alfred, Catwoman, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and the Joker.
During the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Peter Girardi, executive vice president of alternative programming at Warner Bros. stated, "We have done different interpretations of Batman in the past, specifically in Japan, so it’s a format we were familiar with. But it’s a whole new story, set in that [specific] time."
Meza-Leon has also previously discussed the project on record, stating, "I didn’t want it to be some ‘cartoony’ thing. I wanted it to be serious, dramatic and dark. As a Batman fan, growing up with the Aztec culture, hearing these two words together…POW! It just had so much power."