When people talk about the greatest James Bond parodies ever made, Johnny English tends to get undersold — until it suddenly isn’t. Nearly two decades after Rowan Atkinson first strapped on the suit and tie, the franchise is enjoying a quiet streaming resurgence in the U.S., with Johnny English Strikes Again climbing the charts and the original film landing in Apple TV’s Top 10 for PVOD. It’s a reminder that, while Bond himself keeps evolving, Atkinson’s gloriously incompetent counterpoint remains timeless.
In Johnny English Strikes Again, the United Kingdom is plunged into chaos after a cyberattack exposes every undercover agent in MI7. With modern espionage in shambles, the government turns — against all better judgment — to its last remaining option: Johnny English. Pulled away from his day job as a schoolteacher, English accepts the mission with a confidence that far exceeds his competence, quickly discovering that being an analog spy in a fully digital world is not exactly his strong suit.
Why Is ‘Johnny English’ So Popular?
The premise perfectly distills why the franchise still works. Johnny English thinks he is James Bond, but he absolutely is not — and that gap between self-image and reality is where the comedy lives. Speaking to Collider during the film’s release, Atkinson summed it up neatly. What’s remarkable is how organically the character grew into a full-blown movie franchise. Johnny English didn’t start on the big screen at all. As Atkinson explained, the character originated in a series of 1992 TV commercials for a credit card before evolving into a feature film character a decade later:
“He saves the world with such apparent ease, despite never really making a good decision. You can’t quite believe that he does succeed, but he does. He’s strangely brave and determined, and he just keeps going. He had an unusual career path. I don’t think many successful movie franchises have grown out of a TV commercial, but this one did. You just do what seems like a fine idea at the time. I don’t look to the future very much. I just think, what’s the next enjoyable thing to try?”
Part of the enduring appeal lies in Atkinson himself. Few performers get the luxury of returning to a character for decades, and Atkinson somehow pulled it off twice — with Johnny English and Mr. Bean. As he sees it, both characters tap into a shared fantasy:
“Mr. Bean is a child trapped in a man’s body… Johnny English is not a child, but he’s also not much more than a teenager. He loves this world which, by some weird series of circumstances, he’s been allowed to be in. I’m sure he’s an admirer of James Bond because he thinks he’s James Bond — but he isn’t.”
Johnny English is available now on PVOD and streaming platforms across the U.S.
