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Last year, actor Jude Law remarked he had no concerns about backlash for portraying Vladimir Putin in a new film. The movie, though, could coincide too neatly with the carefully constructed image promoted by Russian state media that, within Russia, it reads as a endorsement instead of a critique.

The Crafted Superhero

For years, the Russian political apparatus and the country's pop-culture machine have collaborated to craft a made-to-measure persona of the president. This character is a political superhero without age or mistakes, a former spy reimagined as a local 007 who always knows beyond what he shows.

“Domestically, the constructed Putin has long overshadowed the actual person.”

Cinematic Reinforcement

A notable instance is a TV series launched last October, helmed by a pro-government filmmaker. Its main character is a invented blue-eyed lieutenant colonel inexplicably chosen to “rescue” the nation from disorder. Although he is called a different name, the message is clear: the savior must be a known figure from the secret services.

International depictions often end up reinforcing this identical story rather than undercutting it. An adaptation inspired by a popular book sets out to subvert the leader's mythology by framing him not as a cause but as a consequence, moving the narrative weight to the spin doctors surrounding him.

The Fable of the Hesitant President

On screen, the president is shown as having been chosen by powerful oligarchs to steady the nation because he is “young, athletic and a spy”. The oligarchs approach him and practically plead him to take the top job. He replies is that he would prefer to rule from the shadows, desiring enduring influence.

This tale is the Kremlin’s export myth: the cool, reluctant strategist shaped by destiny. In reality, none of this took place.

The Reality of the Casting Call

No one ever begged him to take the job. The position was effectively a casting call with many contenders. At the centre to this process stood a powerful businessman from the previous administration who planned to control the state de facto.

• His list included several politicians, among them an opposition leader subsequently assassinated and a security service director.
• According to a journalist who studied his rise, the chosen candidate merely met the required parameters: loyal, from the security services, and not a communist or a liberal.
• A property developer close to the events stated the primary requirement was controllability and loyalty, not strength.

“They didn’t need a powerful leader, they needed someone controllable, someone who would obey orders.”

Building the 007 Persona

Analysts concur that the image of him as a powerful KGB spy was constructed retrospectively. Stories about his “recruitment work” in Dresden do not stand up to scrutiny. In essence, he was an administrator and routine duties, a low-level clerk not involved with field operations.

Interestingly, the shift to framing him as a “spy” could partly have been triggered by the actor's arrival as 007. The grittier interpretation led local outlets and social media to draw visual parallels with Putin. Edited images replacing the actor's likeness with his surfaced on city centers, fueling the increasing trend to see him as a local secret agent.

A Propaganda Win?

Given the casting, an star popular with viewers there, the authorities will not miss the opportunity to frame his casting as a minor diplomatic triumph. Its omission of public dissent, the political rivals, or prominent activists from its narrative, despite covering the past decade, is a welcome aspect for state propaganda.

Domestically, the president is frequently an omnipotent figure who remains unseen on screen. He is signaled through photographs or orders from on high. In this new film, he at last gets a recognizable face—one that may inadvertently echo the exact legends it might seek to examine.