Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is a science/fantasy novel and the first book in her Time Quintet series. It follows young Meg Murry, her younger brother, Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O’Keefe as they literally travel through space and time to search of her missing father. Though originally written in 1962, it still stands as one of the most popular children’s books to date so it was no surprise when it was adapted into a movie in 2003 then remade again in 2018; this is the version we’ll be comparing the novel to. It’s the reboot you didn’t know you needed. This novel has meant so much to me ever since I read it back in middle school (I love it so much I even used a line as my senior quote!) so I was beyond ecstatic at the reboot news.
Director Ava DuVernay certainly gave me something to be excited about. From the magnificent casting to the little twists for representation’s sake she really brought something special to the big screen that I adored every minute of. But as I was watching that nagging “this didn’t happen in the book” feeling made an appearance so here we are, exploring the biggest changes I noticed just for fun. Consider this your official spoiler warning.
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The Murrys
Probably the biggest change came in the form of the Murry’s themselves. In the novel L’Engle described the Murry’s as an all white family hailing from Connecticut. The movie puts a twist on this by changing them to a multi-racial family living in sunny California consisting of Chris Pine as Mr. Murry, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Mrs. Murry and Storm Reid as Meg. What’s also worth noting is that in the novel Charles Wallace Murry, played by Deric McCabe is,- without question- the biological and youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Murry but the movie twists this as well. In the film he was actually adopted by the Murry’s shortly before Mr. Murry’s disappearance, which explains why he is a different race from the rest of his family.
Sandy and Dennys Murry
Sandy and Dennys Murry were the twin brothers to Charles Wallace and Meg. In the book they were described as being popular, athletic, smart and really good at gardening. The boys were prone to being bratty but were fiercely protective whenever someone teased their big sister and we loved them for it. Obviously, they weren’t in the movie! Like, at all! Granted, the role they played in the book was small but I found it weird to get rid of them altogether. I mean who doesn’t love a sassy dynamic duo?
Veronica
In the beginning of the movie we see that Meg is made fun of by many of her fellow students for a variety of reasons. One girl in particular, Veronica, seemed to go out of her way to make Meg miserable. The typical mean girl next door. Literally. She was also Meg’s next door neighbor. But in the book this character does not exist. Minor detail, I know.
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Mrs. Whatsit’s Transformation
If you pick up any edition of A Wrinkle in Time, odds are somewhere on the cover you’ll see a centaur like creature in mid flight, this is because during the children’s visit to Uriel, Mrs. Whatsit transforms into the horse- human hybrid with huge wings. During this change Mrs. Whatsit flies above Uriel, giving the children a sort of tour of the unfamiliar land, this is when Meg noticed there were similar creatures. In the movie Mrs. Whatsit does go through a similar change. However it looks nothing like the majestic centaur. The best way to describe it is a humanoid plant type Pokemon.
The Man With Red Eyes/ The Beach Scene
At about the halfway point of the film we find Charles Wallace, Meg and Calvin suddenly on a beach. They are not sure what to believe, it sure doesn’t help when a strange man with glowing red eyes approaches them. He feeds them food that turns out to be sand then manages to hypnotize Charles Wallace, turning him against Meg and Calvin. The part about the man with red eyes is true though the whole beach scene never happened. The children actually meet this odd man in the CENTRAL Central Intelligence building, the same building where Mr. Murry is being held hostage.
Mrs. Who’s Quotes Are Updated
This one is just a little Easter egg I freaked out over. Probably one of my favorite parts of the movie is when Mrs. Who just busts out a Hamilton quote towards the end of the movie; “Tomorrow there’ll be more us — Miranda, American” Mrs. Who is known to speak exclusivity in quotes in both the film and book. Seeing as this book was originally written in 1962 it was a pleasant surprise to recognize quotes from more modern references like OutKast “You need to git up, git out and git something.”
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