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Last year, actor Jude Law stated he had no concerns about backlash for playing the Russian leader in a new film. The movie, though, may align too neatly with the mythologized image circulated by official channels that, within Russia, it functions as a compliment instead of a critique.

The Crafted Superhero

For years, the Kremlin and its pop-culture machine have worked together to craft a tailor-made version of Putin. This figure is an infallible strategist devoid of flaws, an ex-intelligence officer reframed as a local 007 who always knows beyond what he shows.

“Domestically, the constructed Putin has long overshadowed the real one.”

Screen-Based Support

One recent example is a TV series released last October, helmed by a Kremlin supporter. The protagonist is a fictional security officer selected by fate to “save” Russia from disorder. Although the character's name Mikhail, the message is unmistakable: the savior must be a known figure from the secret services.

Western portrayals often end up buttressing this same narrative instead of debunking it. A new film based on a popular book aims to undermine the Putin cult by presenting him as a symptom but as a symptom, shifting the focus to the spin doctors around him.

The Fable of the Hesitant President

In the film, the president is shown as having been picked by powerful oligarchs to stabilise the nation because he is “a fit former intelligence agent”. The oligarchs approach him and practically plead him to take the top job. His response is that he would prefer to rule from the background, seeking permanent power.

This tale is the Kremlin’s export myth: the detached, unwilling mastermind shaped by destiny. In reality, these events ever happened.

The Reality of the Casting Call

Nobody actually pleaded with him to take the job. The position was effectively a selection process with many contenders. Central to the selection stood an influential oligarch from the Yeltsin era who planned to control the state in practice.

• His list featured various figures, including an opposition leader later murdered and a security service director.
• Per a journalist who studied Putin’s biography, the future president simply fitted the necessary criteria: loyal, from the security services, and politically neutral.
• A businessman 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 follow instructions.”

Building the 007 Persona

Analysts concur that the image of Putin as a master operative was constructed retrospectively. Stories about his clandestine activities 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.

Curiously, the move to framing him as a “007” may in part have been inspired by Daniel Craig’s debut as 007. His harder interpretation prompted Russian media and online audiences to draw visual parallels with their leader. Edited images swapping Craig’s face with Putin’s surfaced on city centers, fueling the growing tendency to frame him as a Russian 007.

A Propaganda Win?

With Jude Law, an star popular with viewers there, the authorities are likely to seize the chance to frame his casting as a minor diplomatic triumph. Its omission of mass protests, the political rivals, or key figures from its narrative, even though it includes the past decade, is a pleasant bonus for official messaging.

Domestically, the president is frequently an omnipotent figure who remains unseen directly. He is hinted at through photographs or calls “from above”. In this new film, he finally acquires a recognizable face—one that may inadvertently echo the very myths it perhaps aims to examine.