Creating Batman Azteca: Director Juan Meza-León & Concept Artist Jose "Kuzeh" Iturriaga in Conversation
- Frederick Aldama
- Dec 1
- 7 min read
We acknowledge that we are meeting on the lands of the Tongva native people.
Many thanks to Latino Comics Expo Co-Founder Javier Hernandez and MOLAA's Alison Heney.
We are also remembering LCX Co-Founder Ricardo Padilla
Batman Azteca: Clash of Empires (Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios) represents a groundbreaking collaboration between Warner Bros. Animation, Mexico's Ánima Estudios, and The Book of Life producer Chatrone. The animated feature transplants the Dark Knight into the heart of the sixteenth-century Aztec Empire, weaving Indigenous resistance with rich Mesoamerican mythology.
The story follows Yohualli Coatl, a young Aztec man who becomes Batman after his chieftain father is slain by Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés—reimagined here as a Two-Face villain. Training under the bat god Tzinacan to protect Tenochtitlán and his people, Yohualli embodies the spirit of vengeance that has always defined the Caped Crusader, but filtered through an entirely new cultural lens.
Juan Meza-León is a Mexican-born animation director and storyboard artist whose credits include Rick and Morty, Harley Quinn, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. He began his career in live-action, working on films like Deep Blue Sea, before transitioning into animation where he has become known for blending cultures and storytelling in innovative ways. He's director of Batman Azteca, as well as co-writer alongside Ernie Altbacker (Justice League Dark: Apokolips War).
Jose "Kuzeh" Iturriaga is an Industrial Designer from Mexico who carved his path into the entertainment industry through sheer determination and versatility. After working as an Exhibit Designer in Chicago and later California, he networked his way into storyboarding, concept art, and set design through conventions like Wonder-Con and Comic-Con. His television credits include Jeopardy!, The Cube, and E! Live coverage of the Oscars, Grammys, and PCAs. For Batman Azteca, Iturriaga served as Concept Artist, contributing to the film's distinctive visual world. He has since worked on Amazon's Outer Range Season 2 and the indie video game Mictlán: An Ancient Mythical Tale.
What follows is an edited conversation between Meza-León and Iturriaga, recorded at the Latino Comics Expo in December 2025, where they discussed their creative journeys, the making of Batman Azteca, and the future of Latinx storytelling in animation.
The Journey to Animation
Juan Meza-León:The magic of the movies—going to the theater has always been an amazing experience. When you work on a movie and feel inspired to see things in new ways, sharing that experience, getting to be part of creating that magic, that's always been the dream. Since I was a little kid doing my drawings, I was inspired by movies and music. I was always focused on this journey to try and be part of the world that creates these stories.
Eventually, if you're stubborn enough, you find your way into the thing you were meant to do. Whether it's film, music, painting—whatever you set your mind to. It's going to be difficult. You're going to face a bunch of obstacles, people telling you it won't work. That's where the universe filters out who really wants it. You really have to sacrifice, put in a lot of effort, and release a lot of your resistance, because that's what art demands.
Jose "Kuzeh" Iturriaga: It all started when I moved out to LA, a whole lifetime ago. Making the jump from live action to animation—that transition required learning all this new stuff, understanding how you have to pose out everything for an animation storyboard.
The Art of Storyboarding
Meza-León: A lot of acting goes into animation, but there's a huge difference between live action and animation boards. In live action, you have more room to improvise on the day—you have the visual narrative, your primary setups, your key frames as a blueprint. Then you can work around whatever resources you have, time constraints, whatever comes up.
In animation, it gets more difficult because you have to break down the acting completely. You are the actor in animation—you need to act out everything. You have to plan every camera move, every angle. The reason is that all of this has to be designed, painted, color-checked. What does it look like in the morning? What does it look like in the afternoon? Once you approve everything, that's it. You can't go back easily.
I was having a nervous breakdown trying to finish the Batman storyboards at three in the morning with a meeting at ten. That's the schedule. This work is going to kill you, it's going to test your very existence and your relationships. But it's worth it.
The Director-Artist Collaboration
Meza-León:The relationship between the director and the storyboard artist is interesting—you work hand in hand. You're basically translating the vision of the director. If you have a good story artist, you essentially just supervise their energy, their talents. You want them to feel comfortable so they can give you the best they have, because that enriches the sequence and makes everything look better.
You need to encourage the artist to really make their sequence their own. As a story artist, you are essentially the director of whatever sequences you're given. I just try to supervise and keep everything cohesive so that your segment hooks up with everyone else's work. When you make an episode or a movie, you're breaking down the sequences and each artist takes ownership of their piece.
Cultural Research and the Bat God
Meza-León: One thing I love about this project is that we stayed true to the culture visually. A lot of movies that tackle Indigenous cultures make everything look super gray and brown. We did the research into how we could create this bat warrior that could authentically exist within Aztec culture.
Tzinacan—the fact that a bat deity is an actual image in the culture—allowed us to create a warrior inspired by it organically. It just makes sense. We studied the whole city, how Tenochtitlán looked, and the idea was to have this element of fear and mystery. The veneration of a bat deity existed both in Aztec culture with Tzinacan and in Mayan culture with Camazotz. So the possibility of a warrior donning the cape or mask of this deity feels very real within that world.
Iturriaga: One thing I found during the research—there's an ancient artifact where the figure in the middle is actually a bat, facing downward. It's a representation of Tzinacan from actual Mesoamerican culture. We incorporated that into the design. It was great to work with such specialized material, and in a way, we were all learning together. It was a wonderful experience to merge talents and come up with something different.
The Sound of Batman Azteca
Meza-León: Speaking of combining styles—musically, I wanted to combine Mesoamerican instruments with European instruments. To capture the collision of those worlds. Rock music has always been present in Batman lore all the way back—even Tim Burton's Batman had Prince. So with Batman Azteca, I wanted to do something similar, to mash up the sounds so it would feel both familiar and new.
If you get the chance to listen to the soundtrack, composer Ego Plum did an amazing job creating that fusion. We also got Danny Elfman's blessing to incorporate a few bars from his iconic 1989 Batman score—the notes that hit you right in the feels. It was key to have those bars to make you feel like it's part of the Batman world, yet it's its own thing at the same time.
The Future of the Franchise
Iturriaga: What's next for you? Do you want to do more Batman or explore other historical elements from Mesoamerican culture?
Meza-León: It would be fantastic to continue exploring this world because it was originally conceived as a series. There are a lot of storylines and story arcs we can definitely explore. If you saw the movie—without spoiling it—there are hints at where things could go. Whether that happens depends on the audience. If the movie brings in viewers, we might see more. If not, that's the reality of this industry.
That's why I always tell people: buy physical media. Don't let streamers condition you to be lazy with how you appreciate art. Art is not content. Art is supposed to make you feel something—not put you to sleep. Go to the cinema, support these projects, appreciate art for what it's truly supposed to do: inspire us, motivate us, make us feel something, whether good, bad, sad, happy, or angry. Art is supposed to inspire discussion and communication.
The Theatrical Experience
Meza-León: Art is supposed to be appreciated on the big screen, not on a little black square or a cell phone or tablet. I remember growing up watching Alien on VHS. When I finally got the chance to watch it on the big screen, I was able to appreciate it so much more. You see the little details. That's why they call it escapism—you're supposed to be taken somewhere else. All of us strangers cheering for the same thing, crying or laughing or standing up and applauding together. That's what cinema does. That's the one time we can all come together and enjoy something as one.
New Voices in Animation
Meza-León: The industry is going through a lot of changes right now. More than ever, we need new and bold ideas that are going to break through the standard formulas. We need new voices, new perspectives, something that really showcases the multitude of different cultures that exist.
The beautiful thing is that now, in this age, we all have a camera in our back pocket. We can all make our own little movies and express ourselves, tell the stories we want to tell. If you put it together well, you can put it on YouTube and get attention. That's a great way to start getting involved—it's easier than ever. Before, you had to go through the whole traditional system.
Remember, we all have the opportunity to express ourselves, to make our voices heard. This is the time to do it.
Batman Azteca: Clash of Empires is available on digital platforms. The Spanish-language version features Horacio García Rojas as Yohualli/Batman and Álvaro Morte as Cortés/Two-Face, while the English dub stars Jay Hernandez and Raymond Cruz.