It’s been 20 years since director James McTeigue released his adaptation of Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare’s 1982-1985 graphic novel V for Vendetta, his feature directorial debut with The Matrix’s creators, Lana and Lily Wachowski, credited as screenplay writers. The film stars Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman as a masked freedom fighter called V and the TV network employee he takes on board for his plots to overthrow a repressive, fascist regime in a dystopian Britain. V for Vendetta also stars Stephen Rea, John Hurt and Stephen Fry.

The film grossed $134.7 million at the box office from its $50-54 million budget and attracted a political response in addition to a strictly critical one due to its overt commentary on bigotry, dictatorship, the struggle between the state and civil freedom and inspiration from the 1605 gunpowder plot. V for Vendetta has existed as a prime example of rebellion from a totalitarian government in the last two decades, with its fans marking the 5th November as a day to remember the film’s messages and the image of V (based on Guy Fawkes’ face) becoming a symbol of anarchic identity.

Director McTeigue reflected on the film’s impact during a celebratory interview with Screen Rant, stating he appreciates the fans who “really get the movie” and can identify “the timeliness of the ideas that are in” the writing. The filmmaker added he himself can identify “the parallels to the society that we were living in” and stressed that “the right of a free society or a free democracy is for you to have a voice,” when reflecting on the political turmoils of our time.

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“[Alan] Moore and David Lloyd were in the middle of [a cycle] during the Thatcherite period when they wrote the graphic novel,” McTeigue further explained. “When I made the film during the Bush administration, those themes were circular and cyclical in the way that they happen.

He also looked to the future to draw assumptions of how later conversations about the film’s thematic material will play out, stating “…maybe if we’re having…another discussion in 20 years, we might be in another one of those cycles like we are now. So yeah, it’s remained timely and prescient all at the same time.”

“I think that being able to have your voice in a political system is really important. I think that everyone has a voice, and everyone gets to vote, and that’s a great thing. If you disagree with something, make a piece of art, write something, do something. And I think that’s a little bit of what we were trying to do with V.”

V for Vendetta is available on all home formats now, and streaming on HBO Max soon.

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