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Credit: ABCWhen it comes to Johnny Depp’s involvement in any future Pirates of the Caribbean films, the future seems quite bleak.
After Amber Heard wrote a public letter claiming Johnny Depp abused her, things started to take a turn for the actor. Depp lost a case against The Sun, a U.K. tabloid that sided with Heard’s description of what happened, as well as his appeal. Although Heard continues to stand by her original claims, Depp continues to state that they are false. Neither party has been convicted as innocent or guilty, as the trial for the $150 million lawsuit will not begin until January of next year. Elon Musk and James Franco are already set to testify.
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Because of the surrounding drama, even though Depp has no conviction, he has taken a large hit to his career. After five films, Disney has given Johnny Depp the boot as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depp lost a handful of roles, but none had the same outrage as Jack Sparrow.
Disney fans are able to see Depp’s rendition of Sparrow in the films as well as in Disney Parks around the globe and have truly grown to love him. When the news was announced, petitions were formed to keep Depp in the role. Since then, some have said they are going to boycott the franchise, especially once it was announced that Margot Robbie would be taking over a similar leadership “Jack Sparrow” role in the female-led spinoff of the franchise. Now, with Pirates of the Caribbean 6 reportedly in the works, we have wondered who could take over for Johnny Depp.
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When looking at possible replacements, we decided to look at those who were previously considered for the role in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro was once asked to play the role of Captain Jack Sparrow but ended up turning it down due to fear it would fail. Of course, this was far from the truth, and we would later see De Niro accept other films with a pirate premise in hopes of achieving the same success as Disney’s film. Today, De Niro may be too old to be an adventurous Pirate like Sparrow but could play a different form of pirate.
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey was also considered for Captain Jack Sparrow; they wanted the character to resemble Burt Lancaster, the star of 1952’s The Crimson Pirate. Considering Depp’s rendition of the character went in a very different direction, this would be an interesting choice, but McConaughey could have the energy to play a different form of the character.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman was also heavily considered, as the role was written for him. Screenwriter Stuart Beattie initially wrote the role with Hugh Jackman in mind, hence the name Captain Jack. Jackman may seem like the best alternative out of these three when it comes to mimicking a pirate similar to Depp.
All of that being said, there is also another option: no one. Perhaps no one is suited to take over Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, as he has created the character’s nuances to perfection. He is so ironically known at this point that any carbon copy would likely seem inauthentic and would be a tough sell to audiences.