Credit: DisneyIn 2006, Johnny Depp returned to the high seas as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Jack has enjoyed his time away from Port Royal (and its gallows), but danger is never far behind him. He finds himself marked for death by the notorious Davy Jones, while Lord Cutler Beckett threatens Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann if they cannot obtain Jack’s magical compass.
In order to free himself from Davy Jones’s debt, Jack determines that he must find the Dead Man’s Chest, which contains Jones’s heart. Of course, Jack cannot find Dead Man’s Chest on his own, so he enlists the help of Tia Dalma, a voodoo priestess. Jack’s crew — minus Jack — and Will return to Tia at the end of the film, and she informs them that they will have to go to World’s End to rescue Jack.
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Tia Dalma — played by Naomie Harris — returned in 2007 for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, where she played a pivotal role in rescuing Jack.
She shares with the group that Davy Jones was once a regular man who fell in love with the goddess Calypso and agreed to help her ferry souls lost at sea to the world beyond. When Jones thought Calypso had betrayed him, he turned on her, captured her in human form, and carved out his heart.
As Pirates of the Caribbean fans well know, Tia Dalma is actually Calypso in human form. When she is freed from her human binds, she transforms into thousands of crabs who flee into the sea and create a violent Maelstrom.
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Sounds like she is well and truly gone, right? Well, not if Naomie Harris is controlling the new Pirates narrative. And to be fair, movies have never let death stand in the way of a good character.
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Harris revealed that Tia Dalma was one of her favorite characters that she ever played, and she would love to see her return, but admits that probably won’t happen.
“I disintegrated into a million crabs, so I think my character is very much dead. I loved Tia Dalma, like she is one of my favorite characters of all time that I played. So I would definitely like to come back, but I think she’s very much dead.”
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The Chaos of Pirates of the Caribbean 6
Although Tia Dalma’s story might be over, the Pirates of the Caribbean saga is not. Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer has revealed that both a reboot and a spinoff are in the works, and that the script for a sixth film is nearly complete.
However, we do not know if Johnny Depp will return to the franchise that he brought to life as Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp was dropped by Disney in 2018 when his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, accused him of physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. Mr. Depp sued Ms. Heard for defamation, and a jury awarded him more than $10 million in damages.
While Mr. Depp might have been vindicated, his relationship with Disney appears to be irreparably damaged. During the trial, Mr. Depp said that he would never return to Disney. Both Mr. Bruckheimer and Pirates screenwriter Terri Rossio have said they would love for the actor to return, so never might not mean never if they can convince Mr. Depp that coming back would be worth it.
Would you love for Pirates of the Caribbean writers to find a way to bring back Tia Dalma? Let us know in the comments!