If you’re a longtime fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, then it stands to reason that you’d be pretty excited about two new movies being in development to continue Disney’s swashbuckling adventures. However, despite one project hailing from series veteran Terry Rossio and the creator of the acclaimed Chernobyl, and the other being spearheaded by Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson and star Margot Robbie, reaction has been a little on the tepid side.
Of course, this is all down to the status of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, the marquee name and main selling point of all five installments to date. Fans were furious when it was originally announced that Disney were dropping him from the sixth movie, and even though there’s been no shortage of speculation since then that he might be involved in some capacity, even with two new Pirates of the Caribbean blockbusters moving forward, there’s still been no official confirmation or denial that Depp will return.
There’ve already been petitions launched in an effort to get him reinstated, as well as rumors that Captain Jack might be written into one of the scripts for a small cameo in order to appease the fans, but from the looks of things, it appears as though a number of people have no interest whatsoever in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie that doesn’t star Johnny Depp, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
It’s simple .. if the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie has no Captain Jack Sparrow, no Johnny Depp, I’m not watching it 🤚🏼
— Duke Depp (@WonkaTiktok) June 26, 2020
Very happy for Margot Robbie on landing the Pirates of the Caribbean movie! She’s gonna kill it!
But can we agree that Johnny Depp should still play Jack Sparrow because his lying ass ex wife fabricated stories about being abused and almost ruined his life?
Savvy?
— Vincent Marcus (@VincentMarcus) June 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/ItMeT0ken/status/1276726969288310784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276726969288310784&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Fpirates-of-the-caribbean-6-johnny-depp-returning%2F
https://twitter.com/MyGrindelwald/status/1276618566276702209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276618566276702209&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Fpirates-of-the-caribbean-6-johnny-depp-returning%2F
https://twitter.com/fantasticleak16/status/1276824315498049544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276824315498049544&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Fpirates-of-the-caribbean-6-johnny-depp-returning%2F
Johnny Depp was nominated for an Oscar for Captain Jack Sparrow. But yeah… let's pretend he's not valuable to cinematic history and rob us of more of him. #NoJohnnyNoPirates pic.twitter.com/Ut4WAebTja
— Katie (@Deppoholic) June 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/lisamazzariol/status/1276952340160012290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276952340160012290&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Fpirates-of-the-caribbean-6-johnny-depp-returning%2F
https://twitter.com/fantasticleak16/status/1276608811709710338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276608811709710338&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Fpirates-of-the-caribbean-6-johnny-depp-returning%2F
It's not about Margot Robbie. It's about Johnny Depp losing his iconic Captain Jack Sparrow role because Amber Heard falsely accused him of abuse.
…she abused him.
Despite this, he continues visiting sick children, as Jack Sparrow, to cheer them up.
Johnny deserves better.— Aurora 🎃🧙🏻♀️👻💀 | ❤️🖤🤍💚 (@AuroraMignon) June 26, 2020
Johnny Depp is more than his role as Jack Sparrow. He’ll be perfectly fine without Pirates Of The Caribbean, however Pirates Of The Caribbean will suffer without him.
— Strawberry Fields ミ☆ (@sunflxwervolsix) June 27, 2020
History has shown that very few big-name franchises ever reach the same levels of success without their biggest draw, and based on how Dead Men Tell No Tales disappointed at the box office even with Jack Sparrow front-and-center, any new Pirates of the Caribbean movies that don’t feature the iconic character are more than likely already facing an uphill battle to reignite the stagnating brand.