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Credit: Disney When you watch the Pirates of the Caribbean films’ one of the main takeaways that viewers may get is that Johhny Depp’s character of Captain Jack Sparrow is one who is morally flawed, self-protecting, and irrational. Jack repeatedly shows that he does not worry too much about the future, but more so how he can make it to the next day.
The first time we see Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, it is as his boat is taking in heaps of water, giving him just enough time to hop off onto the dock before it is entirely underwater. Sparrow is a pirate who sacrificed 100 souls to save himself, and often is seen to put himself before anyone else. But, there is actually a deleted scene that not only explains why Sparrow is a criminal and pirate but also shares another side of the rum-loving man, giving him more humanity than we thought possible.
In the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, we can see that Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) do not get along, but we never knew why.
In a deleted scene, we find out that the two have a very deep history that predates the films. It seems Jack used to work for Beckett was supposed to deliver “cargo” (of 100 slaves, although Beckett does not refer to them as people) to Beckett from Africa. Instead of doing his job and being rewarded financially, Sparrow freed the slaves. In the deleted clip, Sparrow tells Beckett, “people aren’t cargo mate,” which is a line that speaks volumes about Sparrow’s character but was never heard.
Due to this, Beckett burned The Pearl and branded Sparrow as a pirate. Now we are able to understand why Jack asked Davy Jones to bring back his ship. As we know, Jones agreed for 100 souls — which some speculate refers to the 100 he sent free). In four short minutes, the scene unearths a lot about Sparrow’s backstory and helps us understand why he is in the position he is in.
If you want to check out the deleted scene, you can here:
Although the film may have axed this knowledge from the franchise, Looper shared that the prequel series explains Sparrow’s backstory in detail:
A.C. Crispin’s prequel book “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom” tells the story in detail (via Goodreads), and it focuses on a 25-year-old Jack Sparrow, who actually works for the East India Trading Company as a first mate. When his ship is attacked by pirates, killing his captain, he may be getting a promotion. Cutler Beckett can offer him that, but first he sends the future pirate on a treasure hunt to a magical island. Jack knows Beckett plans to enslave the people there, and decides to foil the official’s plans.
Now that Johnny Depp has been booted from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the ability to pull in more of Sparrow’s backstory is incredibly difficult for any future films. In case you were not aware, Johnny Depp has been in the spotlight for quite some time, except lately, it is not with too much praise. Depp has been locked in a legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard where the two have a $150 million defamation case at stake.
Related: Hollywood Icon Destroys Johnny Depp with Ruthless Description of the “Overrated” Actor
All of which has caused a massive unraveling for Depp’s career. Depp initially lost a libel case against U.K. tabloid The Sun after calling him a “wife-beater.” U.K. high court deemed that The Sun was not reporting false news, which led Depp to appeal the case, in which he lost again. The negative depiction of Depp in the media has left the actor at the mercy of cancel culture, which he has publically discussed and shamed.
What do you think of this deleted scene from Pirates of the Caribbean? Do you think it would have made a big difference for Sparrow’s character?