Mary Poppins type Stage

Following the news that Emily Blunt is in talks to play Mary Poppins in Disney’s forthcoming sequel to the beloved 1964 musical, the question on everybody’s minds is, of course, who will play Bert?

So far, we know that the new film will be a sequel — not a remake — inspired by P.L. Travers’ later Mary Poppins books. It will feature new original music and take place in Depression-era London, about 20 years after the events of the first film. The Banks children will be adults by this time, and obviously Mary has cloud/umbrella/carpetbag magic that will keep her young and beautiful and practically perfect forever, but what does that mean for Bert?

Originally played by Dick Van Dyke (with a shaky Cockney accent but more than enough charisma and enthusiasm to make up for it) when he was in his late 30s, we don’t know whether the new Bert will be 20 years older or if his ambiguous connection to Mary’s magic will have kept him young too — or, in fact, whether he will be included in the new film at all, though please, let’s not even think about that possibility now.

So who would be best to fill Van Dyke’s very large, very dance-ready shoes? Someone the same age? Someone older? Someone young wearing aging makeup and singing in a wheezy voice? Vote for your choice below! Outside of the prerequisites that he loves to laugh and is as lucky, as lucky can be, it’s anybody’s game.