London Olympics Opening Ceremony Preview: James Bond And The Queen, Mary Poppins vs. Lord Voldemort

Four years after China dazzled an international audience with a spectacularly choreographed opening ceremony, it’s London’s turn to make a big show when the Olympics kick off on Friday. Details released about the opening ceremony suggest that we will be seeing James Bond at the actual Buckingham palace, and an array of iconic fictional British characters will be making their appearance, including a wizarding duel absolutely no one saw coming.

RELATED: Jon Stewart: How Does London Have So Many Pre-Olympics Security Problems?

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle is running the opening ceremony, and while the thousands of people who saw the dress rehearsal have not released any details, rumors have been spreading like wildfire about what we will get to see at the opening ceremony. As for the overall theme of the event, Boyle is attempting to create a live illustration of England and its history.

The theme of the entire event is ‘Isles of Wonder’ and rumors of cottages, green fields with cricket matches and free roaming sheep present a chocolate-box ideal of the U.K., something more akin to the Shire…

Aerial photographs have shown dark smoke stacks and The Huffington Post reports “There will be vignettes drawing on British history – Boyle’s people-power version of it – including Depression-era jobless protesters and nurses performing a tribute to the National Health Service.” One part of the stadium is even set up to look like the Empire Windrush — a ship that brought migrants from the Caribbean to the U.K. in the 1940s.

But what of 007, you ask? Well, a rumor that has been spreading since April suggests that Daniel Craig will be appearing in a pre-taped segment on the BBC as the secret agent with instructions directly from Buckingham Palace (maybe even Queen Elizabeth II herself) to kick off the ceremony. Craig will summarily parachute in to the stadium to get everything started.

But perhaps the most interesting rumor about the Olympics ceremony is the tribute planned to famous British literary characters. Alice from Lewis Carroll‘s Alice in Wonderland will be featured, alongside Captain Hook and Cruella de Vil. But, without question, the climactic battle of good and evil is what’s going to excite and possibly confuse the audience. Here’s the breakdown:

Instead of being done in by Harry Potter, Voldemort will meet his match in a British nanny with an umbrella and a penchant for melody…

About 30 actors each depicting Mary Poppins, the magical English nanny played by Julie Andrews in the 1964 Disney film, will descend from the roof of the stadium on wires and “float” to the ground with their opened umbrellas. The nightmare will be banished and happiness restored. “It’s a jaw-dropping sequence,” said one source.

Mary Poppins and Lord Voldemort. All you need is a Beatles reference and this will be the most British event in the history of the world. Oh, wait. Paul McCartney is actually closing out the ceremony. Well, that pretty much settles it then.