First look: Emily Blunt brings the magical Mary Poppins back after 54 years

The first picture of Emily Blunt in character from the sets of Mary Poppins Returns has been unveiled.

The 34-year-old is set to play the magical nanny in the sequel/reboot to the 1964 Disney musical film.

Set for release around Christmas 2018, the 54-year age gap is one of the longest between sequels in film history. The film will be set in 1935 during London’s Great Depression, 20 years after the original, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Directed and produced by Rob Marshall, Mary Poppins Returns also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer and Julie Walters with Colin Firth and Meryl Streep.

The film, which introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and newcomer Joel Dawson, also features Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury.

In the film, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.

The first look shows that Poppins’s classic style has not changed in two decades, as she still retains the iconic hat, coat, gloves and shoes. Her bottomless carpet bag still accompanies her everywhere, but the parrot-headed flying umbrella is missing.