One of the biggest releases this month is Mary Poppins Returns, the long-awaited sequel to the classic Disney film. Mary Poppins is one of Disney's most iconic films, so we have to wonder how one movie theater ended up putting a blue alien on the sequel's banner. Yep, a theater in Pakistan put Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy on a promotion for Mary Poppins Returns on its website.
from r/marvelstudios
This must seem awfully random to you if you've never seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The blue guy is Yondu, an alien mercenary from the MCU films. Yondu has the ability to mentally command an indestructible arrow. In the sequel, Yondu grasps the arrow and uses it to float down gently to the ground, vaguely resembling Mary Poppins floating with her umbrella.
Star-Lord, who grew up on Earth, jokes about that comparison. Yondu, who has no idea who Mary Poppins is, asks if he's cool. Wanting to make his friend feel good, Star-Lord says Mary Poppins is the coolest, to which Yondu loudly proclaims to everyone, "I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!"
It was probably the most widely shared joke from the sequel. Fans had tons of fun making art and replacing Mary Poppins with Yondu in posters and trailers. Now, it seems like one of these internet jokes has made its way to a real movie theater's website.
Nueplex is a movie theater in Pakistan. As pointed out by a Reddit user, the theater's website uses a photo that includes Emily Blunt and Michael Rooker's Yondu in a front-page promotion for Mary Poppins Returns. After a quick investigation, I found Nueplex's website and it is indeed real.
So, what's going on here, right? Is the theater fully aware that this is a joke and it's just trolling people? Is the web guy just having a laugh and his bosses have no idea? Is it just a genuine mistake and the theater thought this blue man fit right in with a magical nanny? Either way, it's funny.
Of course, it wouldn't be the first time someone had fun with Yondu and Mary Poppins Returns. You may have seen the Mary Poppins Returns trailer redone with Yondu. And Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn shared a fake magazine cover with Yondu replacing Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins. So it would make sense if this theater was just knowingly continuing the joke, whether all theater patrons get that joke or not.
Yondu's days in the MCU are over, but Mary Poppins' big return may just be getting started. After some mild to positive reviews, the film has earned over $100 million worldwide and showing signs that it has some good legs. The film is currently out in theaters right now. Sadly, Yondu (or Michael Rooker) is not in it, but please don't let that discourage you from seeing the feel-good sequel.
