2025’s newest Batman movie just fixed The Dark Knight‘s only flaw by flipping an oddly common trend when it comes to the hero’s villains, making the release all the more interesting. DC movies have been reimagining Batman and his roster of allies and enemies long before the newer likes of the DCU timeline, leading to some mᴀssively successful releases.

Both financially and critically, The Dark Knight is hugely successful, with its engrossing take on Gotham and its protector being eternally iconic. However, the natural limitations of how much the film could do in its runtime mean we miss out on a full conflict between Batman and one villain – though 2025 has provided a very different story in this regard.

Two-Face’s Story In Batman’s Newest Movie Flips The One Downside To The Dark Knight’s Plot

Two-Face is a unique Batman villain in a lot of senses – most notably in that Harvey Dent is conventionally characterized as initially being a dear friend and ally to Bruce Wayne. Despite this, Two-Face’s role in the movie world is often put to the backburner, making him a side villain or otherwise a co-lead villain.

While The Dark Knight is arguably the best and most rightfully respected Batman movie of all time, it also has to put Two-Face’s story somewhat to one side, since the Joker is its central villain. Though this is understandable – and seemingly a wise call – it does mean we lose some of the prospective impact this storyline could have had.

This history of Two-Face having to be relegated to one side makes Batman’s newest release more notable. Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires – also known as Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios – features Two-Face as its main antagonist, with his desire to plunder gold at all costs pitting him against the Elseworlds Batman, leading the hero to don the cape and cowl.

Two-Face’s decision to kill Batman’s father is what kicks off his origin story, and subsequently locks the two into conflict that leads to Aztec Batman‘s villain gaining his scars – here obtained from an injury the conquistador lets get infected because he isn’t willing to return home, despite requests from his men – and leads to the film’s climactic final battle.

Aztec Batman: Clash Of Empires Shows How Interesting Two-Face Can Be As A Central Villain

Though Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires doesn’t explore the bonds between a version of Two-Face and Batman who’ve been friends since childhood, it does explore one of the most interesting aspects of the rivalry between these characters, namely in terms of delving into the way they explore the concept of justice.

Aztec Batman‘s Two-Face is introduced as a figure the young pre-Batman Yohualli Coatl initially trusts immensely, and wishes to help when the man arrives claiming to have more peaceful intentions. However, Two-Face instead plays on this in order to gain access to the city of Tenochтιтlan, and to attempt to take its gold for himself.

That corrupted moral compᴀss leads Two-Face to take a gold doubloon for his famous coin – symbolizing the obsessive desire that fuels the character – and forces Batman to go on a path of self-discovery, dedicating himself not to vengeance, but to sacrifice, culminating in Aztec Batman‘s ending, which appears to reward Batman for his choice with a revival.