'Wu Assassins' Writer Imagines Alternate Ending For 'Mary Poppins Returns'

Julie Benson, the TV and comics writer best known for her work on The 100 and Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, penned an alternate ending to Mary Poppins Returns after seeing the Disney tentpole, providing the title character with a final, heartwarming moment with Dick Van Dyke's Bert the chimney sweep.

Benson said that she loved the movie and was not trying to "improve" it so much as give her take on something that she would have liked to see, and she thought Mary Poppins might have liked to experience.

Here's the full thread, which Benson posted to Twitter last week:

Loved the new Mary Poppins film but what if, WHAT IF, this was the ALT ending:

EXT. BANK'S HOME-DAY
Mary Poppins, grasping her umbrella, lifts into the air. Laser focused on the sky above, she floats with ease. Suddenly, she's startled by a familiar voice emanating from below.

MAN'S VOICE
Ya weren't gonna leave wi'out saying goodbye now was ya, Mary Poppins?

Mary holds her hat as she tilts her head down towards the roof. An old man smiles up at her. His wrinkled face is smeared with blackened soot but his visage as clear to Mary as the day they met.

She grins in delight then quickly covers her bare teeth with a disapproving pout.

MARY POPPINS
I should think not. Of course I'd never forget a friend, Bert.

BERT taps the dust off his chimney brush as he sadly scans the London rooftops.

BERT
Reckon I'm all done down here.

BERT
Mind some company?

Mary digs into her carpet bag and produces a feather.

MARY POPPINS
Well, I suppose flying is more jolly in a flock.

She drops the feather. Bert snatches it out of the air and sticks it into his hat.

BERT
Go on then, give us a lift.

Mary curls and wags her finger, guiding the feather towards her. Bert lifts off the roof. He extends his frail arm up to Mary. She takes his dirty hand. Holds tight. They hug in mid air.

BERT
Don't look a day older than when I last saw ya, Mary.

MARY POPPINS
Neither do you, Bert.

She gently touches Bert's cheek and the soot disappears along with his wrinkles. Bert's shock white hair returns to a deep black.

He smiles as he clocks his youthful hand in Mary's.

MARY POPPINS
Ready?

BERT
I've been waiting a long time for another adventure with you, Mary Poppins. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Hand in hand, the old friends float into clouds. The London skyline fading beneath them.

I just wrote this silly first draft on my phone and it took forever but anyway, I enjoyed the movie but I just missed Bert and kinda thought Mary would too.

FIN

The Twitter response was pretty strong, and Benson -- herself a writer who is accustomed to dealing with fan-favorite brands -- was sure to disclaim that she wasn't unhappy with the film's writing, just adding an ending she would have liked to have seen.

Y'know -- like an imaginary story. Aren't they all?

Mary Poppins Returns is in theaters now. Wu Assassins will debut later this year on Netflix.