Johnny Depp Fans Sound off on Actor’s ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Exit

It seems sufficiently confirmed that Johnny Depp is not returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but his fans are still upset and, in some cases, unconvinced.

Disney is reportedly rebooting its massively successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In an interview with The Daily Mail this week, screenwriter Stuart Beattie said that Depp is not returning to his starring role as Captain Jack Sparrow.

The news shocked many fans of the franchise, who feel that Depp’s performance is the heart and sole of the bizarre pirate world. Some mournful, others furious and some simply did not believe Beattie, or the other mounting evidence that Depp is passing his tricorn hat on to someone else.

“If you remove Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean, you might as well end it,” one person wrote.

“What’s the point of bringing out a new Pirates of the Caribbean if Johnny Depp isn’t playing Jack Sparrow,” echoed another. “May as well just not do the entire film now.”

While the news broke some hearts online, others held onto their faith in the mysterious captain. They believed that this was either mistaken information or part of some prank. Their main evidence was a post by an official Disney Instagram page just after Beattie’s interview.

“Friendly reminder that Disney’s responds to these rumors that there will be a Pirates of the Caribbean reboot without Johnny Depp has been posting a photo of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Suck it haters,” one person wrote.

Finally, there was a small ground-swell of Pirates fans who spoke out in favor of the casting change, noting that Depp has been accused of some heinous acts over the years, including domestic violence. They contested that it was right to remove him from the Pirates franchise, and other films should follow suit.

“Disney is dropping noted creep Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean but J.K. Rowling is sticking with him for Fantastic Beasts, because even giant megacorp Disney is now less pointlessly inhumane than the Harry Potter franchise,” one person wrote.

Depp’s inclusion as the main villain in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a sore subject for Harry Potter fans. Fans became even more outraged, if possible, when Rowling wrote a vague blog post explaining that she and Warner Bros. were aware of the charges against Depp, but had decided to go on with the film anyway.

“For me personally, the inability to speak openly to fans about this issue has been difficult, frustrating and at times painful,” she wrote back in December. “However, the agreements that have been put in place to protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives, must be respected. Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.”