Disney Has Already Proved The Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise Doesn’t Need Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in 'Pirates 6'

Pirates of the Caribbean is a franchise that lost its way, starting strong with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, single-handedly reviving the swashbuckling genre, before falling prey to too many supernatural elements and too much of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. The talk of a sixth installment has long been bandied about, with rumors of an all-female cast and even a return for Depp, if he wants it. The wise choice for Disney would be to drop the idea altogether and leave the franchise in the grave it dug for itself in No Man's Land with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. But it's hard to walk away from an enterprise that's garnered over $4.5 billion to date, so it's a foregone conclusion that Disney will dig up the corpse for another kick at the zombie monkey. And when, not if, they move ahead with a sixth installment, they need to resist the urge to revive Captain Jack Sparrow. Blasphemy? Perhaps, but they've already proven it can be done.

The Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise Is a Master Class in How to Botch a Sure Thing

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a film that, by rights, shouldn't have succeeded. The swashbuckling pirate movie was bereft of life at the time, with the infamous debacle that is 1995's Cutthroat Island delivering the final blow. There was little in the way of buzz, only doomsayers preemptively throwing the film onto the burning heap of fire that was their failed attempts at turning their famed theme park attractions into live-action features (The Country Bears, we hardly knew ye). It was also the first Walt Disney Studios movie to be rated PG-13, a bold move, no matter how ridiculous it may sound (and it does), for a studio that prides itself on entertainment for the whole family.

Yet the film defied the naysayers' gloomy predictions to emerge as a huge hit, landing in the top 5 of the worldwide box office earnings for 2003 and launching Depp into the stratosphere with his iconic Captain Jack Sparrow. The film was a savvy mix of excellent casting, fun, bold set pieces, a winning (and original) screenplay, and a straightforward, easily understandable narrative. More importantly, it had a healthy balance of screen time for the characters. But with each sequential film in the franchise, the narrative grew increasingly convoluted, and while Jack Sparrow was a huge part of the first film's success, Disney made the mistake of attributing a larger portion of that success to the character as opposed to those other key elements, and increased Sparrow's presence in its sequels. Soon, songs were being sung, hearts were in boxes, ships were in a mirror world, or something, and Sparrow's antics became tiresome.

'Pirates of the Caribbean 6' Can Succeed Without Sparrow

Long story short, Disney took what was a secondary character, a spectacular one at that, and ruined him with a promotion. There's little doubt that announcing the return of Depp to the franchise would initially be met with roaring approval, but little doubt again that moviegoers would remember how tired they were of the same shtick over and over again. But is there a Pirates of the Caribbean without the one character who has been present throughout? You bet. It goes back to those lessons that should have been learned from the first film. Jack Sparrow may have drawn the moviegoers in, but they stayed because the story and its execution was perfect.

The franchise didn't fall apart when the likes of Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa, Orlando Bloom's Will Turner, or Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann weren't on-screen, so the franchise has already proven it doesn't need its main players to succeed. In fact, it could be argued that their absence for a time made their return to the franchise later on that much better. Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder, and in the case of Sparrow, his absence in a sixth film would give the franchise the opportunity to right the ship with a new cast and a new, unrelated story, one that brings back the fun, simplicity, and excitement of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It would also lend itself to a "new" Captain Jack Sparrow, if you will, a supporting character that complements the story with his antics, maybe an Aliens' William Hudson (Bill Paxton) type, a mouthy, but funny, hothead adept at drawing trouble. Disney should remember the gamble they took with the first film and how it paid off, and approach a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film with that same moxie instead of playing it safe. Set sail for new horizons, ye scurvy dogs of Disney. There could be buried treasure waiting.

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is available to stream in the U.S. on Disney+

WATCH ON DISNEY+