ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how the formula of the superhero movie is relocated to a non-American context, in this case, twenty-first-century Russia. It analyses the 2017 film Zashchitniki (Guardians) as an example of ‘glocalization’ and claims that it reflects an increased desire for power and military heroism, as well as nostalgia for the lost Soviet Empire in the Vladimir Putin era. The film’s superheroes, which were recruited in Soviet times from various republics for a secret military project, stand for the former Soviet Union as a multiethnic empire of global importance. Reactivated to fight a villain who aims to control Russia and, ultimately, the whole world, these heroes embody the claim that, united under Russian leadership, the people of the former Soviet Union can still be invincible and powerful. The chapter closes with a comparison of the film’s reception in Russia and in countries across the globe.
