Johnny Depp’s potential return to Pirates of the Caribbean remains up in the air. Over the past few years, Depp’s involvement with the franchise has been under scrutiny for a variety of reasons. As it stands, it might still be too early to tell, but recent events can be used to draw some sort of conclusion.
While Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow was one of the biggest reasons behind Pirates of the Caribbean taking off as a franchise, his continued involvement has been rather uncertain in recent years. In the 2010s, Depp’s lackluster performances in both the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean movies and other projects he was involved with during that decade made it seem like he wasn’t as big a draw as he used to be. Furthermore, after the allegations levied at him by Amber Heard, having Depp’s name attached to a project seemed detrimental to its success, so he was subsequently dropped from the franchise. However, following Depp’s allegations against Heard and the Depp v. Heard trial, public opinion has greatly shifted in Depp’s favor to the point that many people have expressed interest in seeing Depp appear in movies again.
That being said, it remains uncertain whether Johnny Depp is actually going to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. The entire situation with Depp and the Pirates franchise has a lot of history to it. However, despite his long connection with the series, much of the evidence – not least from Depp himself – currently indicates that he will not be returning. Here’s what the future may hold for Pirates of the Caribbean and Johnny Depp.
What Is The Next Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie?
At the moment, there are currently two Pirates of the Caribbean movies in development. The first of the two is the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 6, with comments from director Joachim Rønning suggesting that both it and Dead Men Tell No Tales will make up the finale of the franchise (via CinemaBlend). The second movie in development is a new film unrelated to the previous ones that is set to star Margot Robbie as the protagonist. At the moment, it’s unclear if Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie is a spinoff of the original franchise or a full-fledged reboot, but the specifics should come out once both it and Pirates of the Caribbean 6 are further along in development.
Why Disney Is Making Pirates Of The Caribbean Without Johnny Depp
For the past few years, Disney has tried to move the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise forward without Johnny Depp, with reports even stating that he’s officially out of the franchise (via Independent), and the reason for that is because, as previously mentioned, Depp had become a detriment to the franchise. The two most recent Pirates movies, On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales, are largely regarded as being inferior to the movies that came before them, and a common criticism between them was that Depp’s Jack Sparrow had become a far worse character than he used to be, with much of his charm and humor replaced with genuine buffoonery. Some of this was attributed to the writing, but a lot of it could also be traced back to Depp, himself, as his behavior became increasingly hard to manage; Dead Men Tell No Tales, in particular, was constantly stalled by Depp’s drinking and arriving late to the set (via Insider), and he was even reported to forget his lines so often that they had to be fed to him via earpiece (via Insider).
Another problem with Depp at the time was that other movies he had featured in around that time were having trouble finding success. 2013’s The Lone Ranger was critically panned and became a massive box-office bomb, and other movies he had starred in during the 2010s such as Mortdecai, Transcendence, and Alice Through the Looking Glass saw similarly poor reception and box office returns. It was clear that Depp didn’t have the star power that he used to have, and the fact that his performance in Dead Men Tell No Tales was so bad that it earned him nominations for two Golden Raspberry Awards probably didn’t add to his reputation.
The biggest factor, of course, has to be the controversy surrounding Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. At the height of the #MeToo movement, Heard came out with allegations that Depp had abused her during their marriage, which made Depp a pariah in the public eye; the stress from Depp’s divorce is also believed to be a major contributor to Depp’s behavior during the production of Dead Men Tell No Tales. The controversy surrounding Depp became a major sticking point when he was cast as Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, and Mads Mikkelsen replacing him in The Secrets of Dumbledore came across as a clear sign of companies not wanting anything to do with him, anymore. At that point, Depp was a problem not just because of his acting, but because of his perceived character, so it made sense that Disney would do what they could to distance themselves from him.
The Petition To Bring Back Johnny Depp In POTC Explained
While there has been major doubt cast on Johnny Depp’s future with Pirates of the Caribbean, fans haven’t given up on seeing him again. One notable example of this comes from a Change.org petition to bring Depp back as Jack Sparrow that’s received over 500,000 signatures and is currently close to one million (via Change). While an online petition is unlikely to have a major bearing on anything, the Johnny Depp petition is still indicative that thousands of people were showing their support for Depp at a time when his public reception was at its lowest, and that should count for something.
What Johnny Depp Has Said About Returning To Pirates Of The Caribbean
The most concrete evidence about whether or not Johnny Depp will return to Pirates of the Caribbean comes from Depp, himself. During the Depp v. Heard trial, not only did Depp confirm that he was out of the franchise, but he also said that he wouldn’t return even if Disney offered him “300 million dollars and a million alpacas” (via Variety). It’s clear that Depp has very little love for Disney after how they reacted to the allegations Heard levied towards him, and that will probably be the biggest roadblock to him reprising his role as Jack Sparrow.
Jerry Bruckheimer Says Johnny Depp’s POTC Future Is Undecided
That being said, major support for Johnny Depp’s return comes from Pirates of the Caribbean producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. While promoting Top Gun: Maverick, Bruckheimer was asked about whether or not Depp will return to the franchise, to which Bruckheimer responded that the future “is yet to be decided” (via The Times). While it hardly makes for a definitive statement, the fact that someone so heavily involved with the franchise is saying that it’s not impossible for Depp to return could be seen as holding a lot of weight.
Former Disney Exec Thinks Depp Could Return To Pirates After Trial Verdict
Following Johnny Depp winning the Depp v. Heard trial, opinions on Depp have taken a complete reversal from what they were a few years ago among not just the general public, but those in executive roles, as well. In an interview with People, an anonymous former Disney executive has said that they think Depp is extremely bankable following the verdict and is primed to return to Pirates of the Caribbean (via People). While the anonymous executive is no longer working with Disney, it’s still a definitive statement about Depp being good for the franchise again from someone in a position of power, so that can be seen as a good sign for Depp being able to return.
Will Johnny Depp Return To Pirates Of The Caribbean?
With all of that said and done, at the moment, it doesn’t seem like Johnny Depp will return to Pirates of the Caribbean. While people in executive roles have commented favorably about Depp returning, Depp made it clear during his trial that he doesn’t want to return to the franchise, no matter how much Disney would want to pay him. At the end of the day, Depp is the one who decides if he’ll return to the franchise, and if Depp, himself, is saying that he won’t return as Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Jack Sparrow, then it makes it hard to believe that he’ll return.
That being said, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to change his mind about being done with Pirates of the Caribbean. During the trial, Depp said that he wanted to keep making the movies to give a proper goodbye to Jack Sparrow and the other characters (via Variety), so it wouldn’t be impossible for him to want to return just to do that. The situation also bears some similarities to how Daniel Craig said he’d rather “slit his wrists” than do another James Bond film after Spectre, only for him to then reprise his role as James Bond one more time for No Time To Die and express regret for his comments (via CinemaBlend); by that same token, Depp could change his mind at some point and return for another Pirates of the Caribbean movie. At the moment, it still seems like Depp won’t return to the franchise, but with his situation constantly changing the way it is, it’s too early to rule anything out.
