London, the 1930s. Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), once a child in Mary Poppins’ care, now lives with his three children in the family home at 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Following the death of his wife, Michael is struggling — behind on the mortgage, losing hope — and the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’s smooth, relentless chairman William Weatherall Wilkins (Colin Firth) is determined to foreclose on the property.
At the moment of crisis, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) arrives, bringing magic and mischief and her cousin Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), a lamp-lighting optimist who knows every corner of London. Together they show the Banks children — and their father — that imagination and joy are worth fighting for.
Colin’s Wilkins is the film’s villain — urbane, smiling, and utterly ruthless. He also voices the Wolf in the film’s celebrated animated sequence set inside a Royal Doulton bowl, giving him a delicious fairy-tale menace that layers over his real-world scheming.