Putin hatches plan to take on Batman

Russia should counter the dominance of Western fictional characters, the Russian president believes

Russia should put more effort into promoting its own fictional characters, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Putin made the statement during a meeting with Russian historians on Friday, which came as the country celebrated Unity Day.

The president was responding to a remark by one of the participants, who said that Western superheroes like Batman and Spiderman were more well-known among Russian children than any of the country’s own heroes.

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“Batman is known, but some bogatyr of ours is not. That should be in cartoons, films, children’s literature. It needs to be multiplied, it needs to be repeated ... build upon it,” Putin said. A ‘bogatyr’ is a traditional character in Russian and, generally, East Slavic legends, who is similar to a Western European knight.

Simply introducing these characters into media and culture, however, is not enough, Putin warned, adding that the work on this project must be wide-ranging. “Among other things, we’ve gathered here today to kickstart this process,” he said.

“It will not work if it does not fall on the entire education system, starting from kindergarten,” Putin said.

The ‘Three Bogatyrs’ animated film series has been a box-office success in Russia. The popular movies include modernized versions of Russian folk tales about warrior heroes like Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, and Dobrynya Nikitich.