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Last year, star Jude Law remarked he “didn’t fear any repercussions” for playing the Russian leader in a cinematic adaptation. The movie, though, may align too neatly with the carefully constructed image promoted by Russian state media that, domestically, it reads as a compliment rather than a challenge.

The Crafted Superhero

For years, the Kremlin and the country's pop-culture machine have worked together to craft a made-to-measure version of the president. This character is an infallible strategist devoid of flaws, a former spy reimagined as a local 007 who consistently understands more than he reveals.

“Domestically, the manufactured Putin has long eclipsed the actual person.”

Screen-Based Support

A notable instance is a television show launched last October, directed by a pro-government filmmaker. Its main character is a fictional blue-eyed lieutenant colonel selected by fate to “rescue” the nation from chaos. While the character's name a different name, the implication is unmistakable: the hero must be a familiar security officer.

International depictions often end up reinforcing this same narrative instead of undercutting it. An adaptation inspired by a popular book aims to undermine the Putin cult by presenting him not as a cause but as a consequence, shifting the narrative weight to the political machinery around him.

The Myth of the Reluctant Leader

On screen, the president is presented as having been chosen by powerful oligarchs to steady the country because he is “young, athletic and a spy”. They visit him and all but beg him to become president. His response is that he would rather govern from the shadows, seeking enduring influence.

This tale is a key piece of state propaganda: the cool, reluctant strategist shaped by destiny. In reality, none of this took place.

The Reality of the Casting Call

Nobody actually pleaded with Putin to take the job. The presidency was in essence a casting call with many candidates. At the centre to the selection stood a powerful businessman from the previous administration who planned to control the country in practice.

• His list included various figures, among them an opposition leader subsequently assassinated and a security service director.
• Per a journalist who researched Putin’s biography, the future president simply fitted the necessary criteria: loyal, from the security services, and politically neutral.
• A property developer familiar with the process stated the key criterion was controllability and loyalty, not leadership.

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

Constructing the Spy Legend

Experts agree that the notion of Putin as a powerful KGB spy was built after the fact. Stories about his “recruitment work” in Dresden do not stand up to scrutiny. Fundamentally, he was an administrator and technical tasks, a mid-level functionary not involved with field operations.

Interestingly, the shift to framing him as a “spy” could partly have been inspired by the actor's arrival as James Bond. The grittier interpretation led local outlets and online audiences to draw visual parallels with Putin. Edited images replacing the actor's likeness with his surfaced on Moscow streets, fueling the growing tendency to see him as a local secret agent.

A Diplomatic Opportunity?

With Jude Law, an star well-liked by viewers there, the Kremlin will not miss the chance to frame his casting as a small victory. Its exclusion of mass protests, the political rivals, or prominent activists from its narrative, even though it includes the past decade, is a pleasant bonus for state propaganda.

Domestically, Putin is often an omnipotent figure who never appears on screen. His influence is signaled through portraits or calls “from above”. Now, he finally acquires a recognizable face—one that may inadvertently validate the very myths it might seek to examine.