Could Depp’s Jack Sparrow Be Killed Off? POTC Producer Responds

As the actor bounces back from his infamous legal battles with Amber Heard, Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer deals with whether Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow could be killed off. Depp quickly became the face of Disney’s swashbuckling franchise based on their amusement park ride, with the actor even netting a Golden Globe nomination for his execution as the drunk and eccentric pirate captain in the original film. Sparrow would serve as the main character for all five Pirates of the Caribbean movies, though his future was put in doubt amid legal troubles encircling his ex-wife and his last film, Dead Men Tell No Tales, scoring generally mixed reviews and lackluster box office receipts.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter to examine his expansive career, Jerry Bruckheimer opened up about the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. When asked about the possibility of killing Depp’s Jack Sparrow, the prolific producer shut down the notion, recalling how they endeavored to do so once before, only for it to not have worked. See what Bruckheimer said below:

You can’t [kill Captain Jack Sparrow]. We tried to kill him. It didn’t work.

Will Johnny Depp Return To POTC?

Johnny Depp looks surprised as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 5.

Bruckheimer has remained optimistic about the likelihood of Depp returning for a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel sometime in the future, confirming development continues on both it and Margot Robbie’s spinoff, though notes the retiree is taking priority at Disney. Depp, however, apparently shut down the possibility of his return during the recent trial between him and Heard, saying he would reject a $300 million offer to take on the mantle of Jack Sparrow once again. The Golden Globe winner cited a strained relationship with Disney for his lack of interest in coming back for Pirates of the Caribbean but has not spoken out further in the six months since he won his trial on his potential return.

Should POTC Kill Off Jack Sparrow?

Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean

Even if Depp does return to the fold, the question on many audiences’ minds remains whether Jack Sparrow should remain the lead character in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Though considered the breakout character of the original film, most acknowledge the leads of the first three stories to be Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner and Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann, two people whose lives were upended by Jack invading their existences. Though Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides focused squarely on Jack, its follow-up, Dead Men Tell No Tales, brought the focus back to Will and Elizabeth, focusing on their son, Brenton Thwaites’ Henry, as he tries to find a way to break his father’s curse aboard the Flying Dutchman.

Though Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ended with a post-credits stinger teasing the return of Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones, it still largely concluded all of Jack’s threads, seeing him reclaim the Black Pearl and resuming his captaining across the seas. With the 2017 film even going so far as to retcon some of Jack’s origin story, it seems that there’s very little ground left to cover for Depp’s character in the future, save for giving him a closing chapter. While audiences await word on Depp’s potential return and the franchise’s future as a whole, they can revisit the Pirates of the Caribbean movies streaming on Disney+.