Content is everything in Hollywood at the moment. While the bubble may burst in this constant search to bring well-known intellectual property to life, there is nonetheless a scramble to create content for a seemingly insatiable audience. In gaming, too, content is king. If you want proof, just look at the $69 billion Microsoft paid to acquire Activision Blizzard. Microsoft didn’t want Activision’s infrastructure or physical property, and perhaps not even the company’s expertise. What it wanted was the rights to the IP – Call of Duty, Tony Hawk, Destiny, et al.
Thematically, however, there are many genres that both movie and game producers keep returning to. Norse and Viking mythology might just top that list at the moment. As an experiment, go to Netflix and search for the term “Viking”, and then just look at the huge amount of content that comes up: The Last Kingdom, Viking Wolf, Norsemen, Ragnarok, Troll, and a host of related content. The same applies to other streaming services, and you’ll find a wide range of Viking and Norse-themed games at the moment, not least God of War Ragnorak.
Aztec content is very sparse
Now, if you repeat the search experiment with the term “Aztec”, you’ll get next to nothing. In fact, the Netflix search throws up a few documentaries and some unrelated content like Maya Three and Uncharted Amazon, neither of which is Aztec. So, what, then, is our point? Simply put, whether it’s good or bad, content producers return to the same well – Greek, Norse, Roman, and European Medieval mythology – and constantly drink from it. That’s the current business model, but it’s getting tired. And Aztec mythology and culture provide an untapped resource that is badly overlooked.
Of course, that’s not to say there isn’t fantastic Aztec-themed content out there. We can cite movies like the brilliant Return to Aztlán (1990) to the ridiculous Aztec Rex, and games as varied as Aztec Adventure and Aztec Bonanza by Pragmatic Play. But, generally speaking, there is a dearth of Aztec-themed content out there, particularly in mainstream cinema and premium console gaming. Certainly, when compared to the other major mythologies, it’s lacking.
A bias toward European mythologies
There are many arguments as to why this is the case. We spoke earlier of the idea of content and IP, and there is a consensus that modern audiences crave familiarity. Thus, it is in the eyes of the movie producers and games studios easier to create a story around someone like Thor or Zeus than it is to create one about Huitzilopochtli or Mictlantecuhtli. Just as we live in the age of the sequel, prequel, and reboot, creators are looking for themes and stories that have a link with the audience. And European myth is more familiar to audiences, at least Western ones.
It follows, then, that Aztec culture and mythology is ill-served by modern media. It is rich and varied, and there are some wonderful stories that would make for fantastic plots in movies, games, and television shows. Indeed, one of our gripes is the fact that Aztec, Mayan, and Inca cultures are often lumped together when they are distinct, something that has largely contributed to the simplistic clichéd understanding of Aztec culture.
Netflix and others would do well to check out the works of authors like Zoe Saadia, whose pre-Columbian Aztec novels offer a wonderful interpretation of the societies, mythologies, and politics of Aztec nations. There are many others like Saadia, bringing these stories to life on paper. If producers and gaming studios took a chance, it could breathe new life into myth-based games, movies, and television shows. If nothing else, it would give us a break from endless Viking content.