'Mary Poppins' Fans Will Rest Easy After This News

I know I'm not the only Mary Poppins fan out there who is beyond about the upcoming sequel, Mary Poppins Returns . Based on of the popular novels by P.L. Travers, and the 1964 film, Mary Poppins, the magical nanny will soon be back on the big screen to remind kids to clean up their toys and take their medicine with a spoonful of sugar. Emily Blunt will portray Mary Poppins, and Lin-Manuel Miranda will appear as a brand-new character named Jack, so Mary Poppins Returns is sure to preserve the first film's essence even as we move on to Mary's next big adventure. And the Hamilton creator has explained what fans can expect from his character Jack — which, apparently, is not a rehash of Dick Van Dyke's character. Let's all take a moment to sigh in relief.

“It’s the same position. It’s a different character,” Miranda said of Jack, who works as a lamplighter as opposed to a chimney sweep. “This takes place about 20 years after the original Mary Poppins film took place. But I get to be around for the adventures with Mary and the kids and sing and dance and do all the fun things. It’s a new story." From the sounds of that, the character will preserve the original role of Mary's sidekick in the 1964 but give Jack plenty of room to breathe and grow without such a large shadow looming over him. After all, while someone would have to replace Julie Andrews' Mary Poppins in order to move forward with the franchise, recasting Dick Van Dyke's character can be avoided. And, thankfully, it was.

However, that doesn't mean that Bert won't live on in this new film. If anything, Miranda's Jack will be an ode to the original character, and I'm sure that Bert's name is going to come up in one way or another. There's no way Michael and Jane Banks have let those memories completely slip their mind in just 20 years. "There are about eight Mary Poppins books, so what the creative team has done is sort of taken some of the adventures from those," Miranda continued. "Michael and Jane Banks have grown up, so this has to do with their kids.”

While Dick Van Dyke is too old to reasonably reprise his role, there is room for him to step in as a seemingly random chimney sweep if he's up for the job. As for Julie Andrews, well, there have been rumors that she'll make a Mary Poppins cameo as well. Until and unless that happens, we'll just have to enjoy the brand new story that Disney's about to provide for us.

I'm ready.

Images: Giphy (2)