Synopsis:

21-year-old Diego de la Muerte is a hip, young Latino-American living in East Los Angeles. In anticipation of an upcoming Day of the Dead celebration, Diego dresses up as a zombie mariachi – black suit with an Aztec skull on the back, kohl-lined eyes, and facial markings that give him a ghoulish look. It’s all in fun. But an Aztec death symbol that Diego has unwittingly tattooed on his arm has marked him for a dark destiny beyond his wildest imaginings. On his way to the party, the black forces of the ancient Aztec netherworld cause his car to crash and Diego’s life is taken from him.

Diego awakes to an afterlife in the dark Aztec land of the dead, Mictlan. Here, Diego is sacrificed to the god of death, Mictlantecuhtli, in a Aztec ritual in which is heart is ripped from his chest and sealed in a clay pot, giving Mictlantecuhtli possession of his soul.

Diego returns to the land of the living. But he is now trapped in the body of the living dead. His ghoulish appearance, originally donned for celebration and fun, has become permanent, and his eyes are black, empty shells. Unable to contact his friends and family who long ago mourned and buried him, he is fated to walk amongst the shadows of his former life, trying to protect those he loves without revealing himself to them. Armed with the power to take life or restore it, he must struggle against the powerful god of death who created him, in order to ensure that the rest of us do not meet the very same fate.

Based on the comic book series from Javier Hernandez, “El Muerto” fuses imagery from the brutal past of ancient Mexico with the U.S. Latin-infused culture of today. One of the most talked about new Mexican-American comics at this year’s Comicon Convention, “El Muerto” introduces a unique hero who takes us on a new journey into costumed adventure and contemporary horror.