Well, this is indeed strange times for Hollywood. Let’s take some time to look at movie franchise that seriously needs a comeback. Who else wants more Pirates of the Caribbean? Every time I say yes to that question, I get more disappointing films. Now I’ll confess, I’m someone who likes the first three movies. I mean, the first one is a real classic in my book, but Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End were very entertaining for me. Were they as good as Curse of the Black Pearl? Maybe not, but I thought they were very entertaining movies. And of course, the backbone of those movies is without a doubt, Jack Sparrow. I’m sorry, it’s actually Captain Jack Sparrow.
Now why is this pirate character so beloved by fans? Well, it’s probably because of the phenomenal performance by Johnny Depp. What Johnny Depp did with this character is the reason we love his acting abilities. He made our boy Jack Sparrow more than just the stereotypical swashbuckling, angry pirate who just loves plunder and rum. Let’s not forget, rum is one of his favorite things, so he does have that pirate-y characteristic.
What Johnny Depp did for Captain Jack Sparrow was give us a pirate we can all root for. He was funny, sarcastic, and facetious, but he was also exceptionally cunning and had a silver tongue. This character could talk himself out of almost any bad situation and if he didn’t, he always managed to escape. Captain Jack is the only character ever to have the best and worst luck in history. That’s why he’s always so fun to watch.
Well, this is old news by now, but Disney unfortunately parted ways with Johnny Depp with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. That means no more Captain Jack Sparrow. Ever. Now can someone replace him as the character? No. No, no, and a thousand times no. Johnny Depp owns that character. That’s his most famous role and his best role. Recasting everyone’s favorite pirate character would certainly not sit well with fans and I think Disney knows it. That’s probably why they’re choosing to reboot the franchise instead of making a sequel to Dead Men Tell No Tales.
I must say, that’s a bit disappointing. That post-credits scene at the end had me excited. Was Davy Jones really returning? I guess we’ll never know now, but instead of seeing Johnny Depp become Captain Jack Sparrow again, we’ll get to see Margot Robbie become a pirate as the new lead. That does sound interesting, but the downside is still an obvious one: no Captain Jack Sparrow.
Why exactly did Disney fire Johnny Depp? There has never been a clear answer as to why, but given the controversy surrounding Depp’s personal life, it certainly doesn’t bring good publicity to Disney. No matter what the reasons are, it’s still very unfortunate that we may never see Johnny Depp return to reprise the role of Jack Sparrow again.
Recently, however, there have been some rumors floating around the internet that suggest Disney regrets firing Johnny Depp from the franchise and possibly wish to rehire him. Now nothing has been confirmed yet, but these rumors do spark our interest. Let’s do some wishful thinking and assume that these rumors are true. Is Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow a good thing? On the surface, I’d like to say yes right away, but there is some disadvantages to it.
For the reasons I explained earlier, having Johnny Depp return to the franchise would be highly beneficial for it. Let’s face it, there really is no Pirates of the Caribbean without Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack. That character is the face of the franchise, so removing him would be like taking the heart out of it. I’m not saying Margot Robbie can’t give us a great pirate character of her own. I’m excited for her take on the new lead for the franchise, but she’s not the pirate who made the franchise a hit. That honor now and forever belongs to Captain Jack Sparrow.
If we’re going to look at the good Pirates movies we need to look at the last two. In short, they were just not that good. The last one especially showed me that Johnny Depp was just phoning it in. Granted, he was probably unsatisfied with the script (because it was bad), but it seemed like he was ready to call it quits after that movie. Can we really blame him? I mean, to be fair, he did give us this character for over ten years and fully devoted his acting skills to it. I mean, with the exception of the last movie of course. And we all know that he’s no stranger to playing bizarre characters.
However, Jack Sparrow is a special one to him. Why would he willingly walk away from his greatest character? It sounds like what he really needs is a dedicated crew who will actually give him a good script to work with. On top of that, go back to the core of what made the character and franchise so great, and we’ll get our Captain Jack back.
Now the franchise is still apparently being rebooted, so there is a dilemma here. A reboot means we’ll be getting a new take on the franchise, which is exciting. Does having Jack Sparrow return diminish that chance? Well, I believe you can have a new take on something, but if you have a key element that made it work before, including it would only enhance it. Why not have Margot Robbie’s new pirate character work with Jack Sparrow? And no, it doesn’t have to be connected to the previous movies. This can be the reboot the franchise needs it to be while also taking Jack Sparrow in a new direction.
The biggest advantage of Johnny Depp returning to the franchise would be seeing how the character can change through a reboot. The best way it can be done is to keep the core traits of what made the character great, while giving him more things to do. Having him partner up with Margot Robbie’s character would really be a step up. Maybe he can even pass the torch of Captain of the Black Pearl to her? Okay, maybe he wouldn’t do that, but that’s what character development is all about. They change overtime and that’s why we need to see a new and improved Jack Sparrow. If they want a start, bring back Johnny Depp and please give him a script that works.
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